Russian propaganda spreading fake claims about alleged preparations for mass mobilization of women in Ukraine
Russian media, Telegram channels, and anonymous Facebook accounts are circulating a video from the Kyiv Metro. The clip shows advertising banners at one of the metro stations. According to propagandists’ posts accompanying the video, the banners allegedly promote the recruitment of women, and that Ukraine is supposedly preparing for their mass mobilization into the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
This is a fake. The video was indeed filmed at one of the Kyiv Metro stations. The footage shows posters dedicated to female servicemembers from various units – “Predator,” “Shooter of Shaheds,” “Robot Master,” and “Amazon.” However, these posters do not contain any calls to join military service. They were created as part of the charity campaign “Women Can Do Anything,” dedicated to women’s struggle for their rights.
The goal of the campaign is to raise 6 million hryvnias. These funds are intended to support mobile air defense groups of the 37th Separate Marine Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, where a representative of the “Veteranka” movement with the call sign “Ksena” serves, as well as to purchase Heavy Shot bomber drones for the “Rubizh” Brigade, where another member of the community, “Yunha,” serves. Both servicemembers became the faces of the campaign.
Russian resources are also spreading videos on TikTok, Instagram, and Telegram featuring Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Kingdom and former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, in which he allegedly calls for the mobilization of women.
However, these statements by the general are taken out of context. The video dates back to October 17, 2024, and was recorded during Zaluzhnyi’s speech at Chatham House. During the event, he was asked about the mobilization of women, to which Zaluzhnyi responded that such a step could only be considered in cases of extreme necessity, such as a threat to Europe’s existence. At the same time, he concluded his response by saying that “we must prevent a full-scale war in Europe, as happened in 1939, by other means, not by conscripting Ukrainian women.”
Thus, propagandists used only part of Zaluzhnyi’s statement to spread disinformation.
It should also be noted that the source of this fake is a social media user under the pseudonym elena_pashynina. She regularly publishes manipulative posts that justify Russian aggression. In particular, she has shared AI-generated images depicting alleged “friendship” between Russian and Ukrainian soldiers.
The fake about women’s mobilization is being spread against the backdrop of reports about an incident caused by an error in official registries. Due to this, there have been isolated cases of women without medical education being mistakenly listed as wanted – allegedly for evading mobilization. Official sources explained that this is a technical error that is already being corrected.
As reported by Ukrinform, Russian propaganda previously launched a large-scale disinformation campaign against the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Sumy region.
By Andrii Olenin
