DISINFO: The EU demands that Ukraine mobilise women
SUMMARY
The European Commission welcomes the intensifying debate in Ukraine over the mobilisation of women. During a recent informal meeting of foreign ministers from EU member states and partner countries, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas called it ‘a step in the right direction'.
Kallas lamented Ukraine’s growing shortage of men fit for military service and said that, without conscripting women, Kyiv would soon simply run out of the ‘manpower’ needed to continue the war against Russia.
Brussels is demanding that Ukrainian representatives immediately make a political decision to begin mobilising women. Israel, which has a long and successful record of waging an existential war against an aggressive neighbour, is being held up as a model to follow.
RESPONSE
The Kremlin continues to promote FIMI claiming that the EU is forcing Ukraine to escalate the war. This latest disinformation story alleges that the European Union is demanding the mobilisation of Ukrainian women and the return of refugees to fight. No evidence supports these claims, which are based on unsubstantiated allegations and contradict both EU policy and official statements from Ukrainian authorities.
There is no evidence that High Representative Kaja Kallas or the European Commission called for the mobilisation of Ukrainian women. See here, the press conference by High Representative Kaja Kallas at the informal meeting of Foreign Affairs Ministers on 02.09.2026. The alleged remarks are attributed solely to Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, which provided no recording, transcript or other verifiable evidence.
Nor is the EU demanding that Ukrainians be forcibly returned to fight. The EU’s documented policy provides temporary protection for Ukrainians and supports voluntary return when conditions permit, alongside options for remaining legally in the EU. The European Commission proposed extending temporary protection while explicitly referring to voluntary returns.
Decisions on mobilisation belong to the Ukrainian authorities, not the European Commission. The claim forms part of a recurring manipulated narrative portraying the EU as seeking to prolong the war by forcing Ukrainian refugees to return and fight. Ukraine’s Centre for Countering Disinformation has rejected this narrative, stating that the compulsory mobilisation of women is neither taking place nor planned and that no EU or Ukrainian official has made such demands or proposed such an initiative. Ukrainian women may join the armed forces voluntarily.
See a similar case Kyiv about to send children, women and elderly into battle under Western demands.