According to Ukrainian law, women can serve in the army only with their voluntary consent. However, now women who have received medical or pharmaceutical education must register if they want to work in their specialty.
ICTV Facts interviewed a member of the Ukrainian Bar Association, lawyer at LCF Law Group Nikita Tatarinov and lawyers at the ARES law firm Vladislav Zaitsev and Evgeny Promsky about the specifics of registering women in medical and pharmaceutical specialties.
Registering women for military service
Before the Verkhovna Rada adopted a new bill on mobilization, women who are fit for military service due to their health and age and have a medical or pharmaceutical education were registered for military service at their request, noted Nikita Tatarinov, a member of the Ukrainian Bar Association and a lawyer at LCF Law Group.
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Note that registration — this is not a call-up for service.
In peacetime, women can be taken into military service or reserve service only on a voluntary basis (under contract).
According to Nikita Tatarinov, even if a woman has a medical education, she is not subject to forced conscription for military service.
Registration of women in medical and pharmaceutical specialties
On May 16, 2024, the government amended the Procedure for organizing and maintaining military registration of conscripts No. 563) regarding the military registration of women in medical and pharmaceutical specialties.
Now women aged 18 to 60 who have received an education in medical specialties must register for military service if they wish to continue working.
— Indeed, earlier, according to the Cabinet of Ministers' resolution of December 30, 2022, No. 1487, it was envisaged that women who received an education in a medical or pharmaceutical specialty and were not registered for military service at the TCC, that is, did not receive a military registration document, could get a job as non-military personnel until the end of 2026 (paragraph 1, clause 51), – note the lawyers of the ARES company.
Now this rule has been excluded. Therefore, in order to be able to work in the future, women need to register for military service.
This is explained by the fact that the registration of citizens for military service (which is carried out by the heads of enterprises) is carried out only after the said citizens have been registered for military service in the relevant TCC, SBU bodies, and relevant units of intelligence agencies.
— If a person is officially employed but is not registered for military service, this is considered a violation of the rules of military registration. The head of the enterprise is responsible for this, – ARES lawyers note.
Which medical specialties are subject to military registration
List of specialties or professions after receiving which women must register for military service:
- physical therapy, occupational therapy, medical and psychological rehabilitation, public health, physical rehabilitation, industrial pharmacy, sanitation and examination;
- dentistry, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, medical diagnostic and treatment technologies;
- biomedical engineering, biotechnology and bioengineering;
- life science and medical professionals and medicine (except nurses);
- medical professionals, dentistry, research workers (dentistry), dentists, pharmacy, pharmacists;
- health and preventive care professionals, research workers;
- other medical professionals (except nursing and midwifery);
- auxiliary personnel in modern medicine, physiotherapy, pharmacy (except nurses), medical assistants, dental assistants, physical therapists and massage therapists, pharmacists, other assistants to professionals in the field of modern medicine (except nurses);
- professionals in pathology, toxicology, pharmacology, physiology and epidemiology;
- pathologists, toxicologists, pharmacologists, physiologists and epidemiologists, research fellows (medical science), physicians, specialists in the field of medical and preventive care, professional nurses and midwives, professionals in the field of nursing and obstetrics;
- nurses and midwives, hygienists, ophthalmologists and opticians, nurses and midwives assisting professionals, assistants to professional midwives;
- medical equipment operators, workers servicing equipment for the production of pharmaceutical products and cosmetics, heads of departments in health care.
What should women in medical specialties who are not registered for military service do
According to lawyers, women in medical specialties must personally apply to the relevant TCC with an application for military registration.
As a result, the woman will receive a military ID or a temporary certificate of a person liable for military service with a note about her being on military registration.
Passing a VVK for women
If a person liable for military service was not registered for military service, then in order to determine her fitness for military service and, accordingly, to decide on her registration or exclusion from it, it will be necessary to undergo a military medical commission (VVK).
Mobilization of women for military service service
Women's mobilization can only be carried out on a voluntary basis with consent.
— Thus, according to part 12 of Art. 1 of the Law of Ukraine On Military Duty and Military Service, women registered for military service may be called up for military service or recruited to perform work to ensure the defense of the state in wartime on a voluntary basis, confirm ARES lawyers Vladislav Zaitsev and Evgeniy Promsky.
Deferment from conscription during mobilization
- Women and men who are supporting three or more children under the age of 18 are not subject to conscription for military service upon mobilization, except for those who have arrears in alimony payments (the total amount of arrears is more than three months);
- women and men who have a child or children under the age of 18, if the second one of the child's parents has died, been deprived of parental rights, been declared missing or declared dead;
- women and men raising a child with a disability under the age of 18;
- women raising a child with severe perinatal lesions of the nervous system, severe congenital malformations, oncological, oncohematological diseases, etc., but who has not been assigned a disability;
- women who have a dependent adult child who is a person with a disability group I or II.
Basic military service
Women who are serving in the conscription of officers, are dismissed from service due to the onset of a special period and unwillingness to continue service, if such a woman has a child (children) under the age of 18.
In peacetime, female military personnel are dismissed from service due to pregnancy; or are on maternity leave.
