Starting from 2024, Ukraine has opened multiple recruitment centers throughout the country. Recruiting centers are actively working in Ukraine to help Ukrainians join certain units, battalions and troops of the Armed Forces. It also provides citizens of Ukraine the opportunity to ask questions on military service.
Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense announced that since the start of the army recruitment centers, 36,760 citizens have received consultations on enlistment. The ministry details that 8,053 of them have already become candidates for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, 20% of the candidates are women.
Recruiting centers reportedly demonstrate a high level of female involvement in different regions of Ukraine. The highest percentage of female candidates for the Ukrainian Armed Forces was recorded in the following oblasts: Chernivtsi – 46%, Khmelnytskyi – 42%, Ternopil – 38%, Rivne – 33%, Chernihiv – 31%, Odesa – 29%, Sumy – 27%. In the online recruiting center, which operates throughout Ukraine, this figure is 37%.
“The number of women joining the Ukrainian Armed Forces through recruitment centers demonstrates their active participation in the defense of the country. Women actively hold staff, medical and combat positions, including in the field of UAVs. This once again confirms that the Ukrainian army provides opportunities for everyone who wants to contribute to our common victory,” said Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Brigadier General of Justice Serhii Melnyk.
As of 25 January, 2025, the distribution by military specialty groups among women who joined the Ukrainian Armed Forces through the Ukrainian army recruitment centers is as follows: staff positions – 24%, combat medics, nurses, doctors – 22%, UAV-related specialties – 13%, cooks – 12%, shooting specialties – 6%, communications and cybersecurity – 6%, psychologists – 3%.
It was recently reported that Ukraine is in the final stages of developing a recruitment reform to encourage people between the ages of 18 and 25 to join the armed forces. New recruitment options are currently being explored, as the current conscription system, inherited from the Soviet era, is slowing down progress.
One initiative is the “fair contract,” which includes financial incentives, clear training guarantees, and measures to ensure dialogue between soldiers and their commanders. The plan is aimed at recruiting mainly young people aged 18 to 25, who are currently exempt from mobilization, to the armed forces.
It was also reported that Ukraine’s President’s Office, together with the Ministry of Defense, is analyzing the reasons for the ineffectiveness of previous mobilization efforts.
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