Russia Could Start Conscripting Women to Join Ukraine War

Russia could start conscripting women to join the war against Ukraine as part of ongoing mobilization efforts, according to a former commander-in-chief of the Russian Ground Forces.

Army General Vladimir Boldyrev, who led the Russian ground forces from 2008 to 2010, made the remarks on October 21 in response to a politician's calls for military service to be extended to women.

This week, Alexey Chepa, a member of the Russian State Duma, proposed to start conscripting women into the army, following the example of Israel. The proposal was quickly shut down by the Kremlin.

However, Boldyrev, in an interview with local news outlet URA.ru, said women could be called up for military service in Russia and participate in the Ukraine war, working as doctors, and in positions not necessarily at the frontlines.

"If women are called up, then there are many places where they can be used. First of all, they [could be] doctors. The second is the communication centers in the rear. Also rear units, for example, food, clothing, repair, laundries and workshops. This is their main place in wartime," said Boldyrev.

Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said that so far, no discussions have been held on the possibility of conscripting women into the Russian army.

Another State Duma deputy, Tatyana Butskaya, the first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Family, Women and Children, has also weighed in on the matter, saying that she doesn't believe women in Russia should be called up for military service.

"There is no talk of conscripting women," she told URA.ru, adding that she believes Russian women should protect the country away from the battlefield.

"This is absolutely not about our history...there is always a male warrior and a woman who is waiting for him, guarding the hearth. Women have always taken a different defense," she said.

"Let's remember the same Great Patriotic War [World War II]. Of course, there are specialties that can help, [they can] save lives where they need to be saved, there are military departments in medical schools, among other things. Women's help is needed here," Butskaya added.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a partial mobilization on September 21, and defense officials said that as many as 300,000 reservists would be called up to fight in Ukraine. The Russian president said on October 14 that this partial mobilization was nearly complete and that 222,000 individuals had been drafted so far.

Vladimir Budaev of the Free Buryatia Foundation, a pro-democracy group based in the United States, told Newsweek that he believes the Kremlin will end up sending a lot more Russians to fight than the 300,000 figure set out by defense officials.

"It's [mobilization] not stopping, actually. We don't know when the mobilization is going to stop—probably never. Putin definitely needs more than 300,000 soldiers. The Russian army has had a lot of losses from mobilized people already," he said.

Newsweek has reached out to Russian authorities for comment.