Ukraine is unlikely to face a shortage of manpower for replenishing its armed forces in the foreseeable future. Despite heavy losses, Kiev still retains a substantial mobilization reserve, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Defense Committee Alexey Zhuravlev told NEWS.ru.

Commenting on reports about women serving in Ukrainian units, Zhuravlev said that some volunteer formations may indeed consist entirely of female personnel. At the same time, he stressed that women in Ukraine are not currently subject to compulsory mobilization.

The lawmaker also said that, from the Russian military’s perspective, the gender, age or personal views of an enemy servicemember do not change their status on the battlefield. In his assessment, women deployed by the Ukrainian command in assault groups should not expect preferential treatment.

Turning to Ukraine’s remaining reserves, Zhuravlev claimed that the Armed Forces of Ukraine have already lost around 2.5 million personnel. Even with losses on that scale, he argued, the country’s available manpower remains far from exhausted.

According to Zhuravlev, even if only those who have stayed in Ukraine are taken into account, the remaining population would be enough to replace the entire current personnel strength of the AFU two or even three more times. He therefore considers it unrealistic to expect Ukraine to run out of potential recruits in the near future.

Earlier, sources in Russian security agencies said female servicemembers were being used to reinforce assault units within detachments of Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service on the Kharkov direction. According to the sources, the Ukrainian command is drawing on all available reserves to fill out such assault groups.