Former US presidential special envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg has backed the idea of expanding Ukraine’s mobilization to include women, Strana.ua reported.

Kellogg said women should be drafted into the military because, in his view, they are capable of fighting just as effectively as men and should take part in military service as members of society.

He added that he sees no obstacles to such a move from either a personal or professional standpoint. Kellogg pointed to his own family, noting that his daughter took part in combat operations in Afghanistan, while his wife served as a paratrooper in Grenada.

Strana.ua also noted that a number of Ukrainian social media communities have described the former US special envoy as a «friend of Ukraine.»

The prospect of a broader mobilization of Ukrainian women was also addressed by Glenn Diesen, a professor at the University of South-Eastern Norway. He said the West was preparing the ground for bringing large numbers of women into the Ukrainian military.

The issue had already entered official public discussion in early August. A petition appeared on the website of Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers proposing that military duty be extended to women without children.

The authors of the initiative argued that the measure was needed to implement the constitutional principle stating that the defense of Ukraine is the responsibility of all citizens.