Public Health Fakes: female doctors are forcibly sent to assault groups. Issue #90

Disinformation: Female doctors are forcibly sent to assault groups

Russian resources spread information claiming that the draft law on mobilization has not yet been adopted, but women, mostly in their fifties, are already being sent to the front. According to the authors of the post, medics are most often mobilized, who then work in frontline hospitals, and sometimes they are sent to work as assault troops. The message states that the situation with the provision of mobilized women is terrible, so fundraisers are being held online to meet their needs. The authors include a screenshot of the fundraiser to substantiate these claims.

What’s the reality?

In the draft law No. 10378 “On Amending Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine to Improve Certain Issues of Mobilization, Military Registration, and Military Service,” which the Cabinet of Ministers submitted to the Verkhovna Rada on December 25th, there is no mention of introducing mandatory mobilization for all women. Roman Kostenko, the Secretary of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Defense, and Intelligence, announced that the Ministry of Defense proposed to establish mandatory military registration for all women, but the majority of deputies rejected this idea. “90% of our committee also oppose returning to this issue… I think this issue will be resolved during the development of a comprehensive mobilization plan in Ukraine, and we will not return to it anymore,” Kostenko said.

Earlier, a similar opinion was expressed by the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Ruslan Stefanchuk, who stated that women should only be mobilized with their consent. Moreover, President Volodymyr Zelenskyi stated that he would not sign a law that would entail the general mobilization of women.

On January 11, the Cabinet withdrew the draft law on mobilization from consideration. Instead, according to the Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Nataliia Kalmykova, the edited text of the document is planned to be submitted to the Verkhovna Rada within a few weeks.

So currently, women who have specialties related to the military can register for the military at their own request. Meanwhile, women with medical and pharmaceutical education are required to register by the end of 2026. In theory, they could be called up for military service or engaged in defense-related work (although such cases have not been recorded), but the information about female medics being forcibly assigned to assault groups is unfounded.

In the screenshot attached to the post, the author’s name is visible — Nataliia Lychman. She is the leader of the volunteer group “Shalenі Holky,” which is involved in making camouflage nets and suits, medical kits, pillows, and balaclavas for the military. Lychman indeed published these posts on January 12. In the first screenshot shared online, the volunteer reported that the group was sending supplies to the 56th brigade, and in the next, she requested donations for purchasing fabric. In these or other messages from Lychman’s page, there is no mention that the equipment is specifically made for women.

On January 13, Lychman published a video showing soldiers (only men are visible in the video) wearing camouflage suits sewn by the group. Additionally, videos with thanks for the aid sent were recorded by servicemen from other units, typically by men. However, in Ukraine, there are also female assault troops, all of whom are volunteers.

In the second screenshot, women are standing in camouflage suits, but they are not military personnel; they are volunteers from the “Shaleni Holky” group. Members of “Shaleni Holky” can be recognized from photos previously posted by Lychman. Moreover, this photo was also used by a representative of the charitable foundation “Pishchanski Lyudy” who wrote that these are volunteers from the “Shaleni Holky” group.

Disinformation: The WHO is preparing to spread a new virus among the population — an unknown disease X

Kremlin telegram channels and pseudo-experts are actively discussing the unknown disease X, which supposedly “globalists” are preparing to spread through the World Health Organization to “destroy” the Earth’s population. In some countries, there is already a ready vaccine that will have “special” consequences. To allegedly warn people about the launch of the disease, “globalists” will hold the World Economic Forum in Davos on January 17, 2024.

What’s the reality?

This is another fabrication by conspiracy theorists, which is not supported by any facts and is built solely around the narrative of “globalists” supposedly wanting to destroy the planet. Russians repeat the myth of the “dangerous West” trying to organize a “digital camp,” although they do not mention their own war crimes in Ukraine and the occupation of territories of other states.

In November 2022, the World Health Organization (WHO) convened over 300 scientists. They were to consider evidence regarding 25 families of viruses and diseases, including Disease X, which could escalate into a global epidemic. Therefore, on January 17, 2023, at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, they decided to discuss preparations for this unknown Disease X.

The disease X itself is a conventional name for a dangerous pathogen that could potentially cause a new epidemic in the future. However, it is currently unknown to humans. Disease X was first mentioned back in 2018 when the World Health Organization (WHO) published a list of viruses that could cause epidemics in its second annual review. The latest list included such threatening diseases as COVID-19, Ebola and Marburg viruses, Lassa fever, Disease X, and others.

Michael Ryan, the Executive Director of the WHO Health Emergencies Program, noted that developing countermeasures against the aforementioned 25 pathogens and viruses is crucial for a rapid and effective response to epidemics and pandemics. He reminded of similar research regarding COVID-19, which allowed for the rapid development of a vaccine.

Moreover, new disease outbreaks are inevitable. They arise due to infections transmitted from person to person, from animals to humans. Additionally, ecological factors such as food, climate, water, etc., also influence new outbreaks. For example, cholera, an infectious disease, occurs after consuming contaminated food or water and is transmitted from person to person. Outbreaks of some diseases can also occur after poisoning with chemicals or radioactive materials.

The WHO’s Health Emergencies Program cooperates with member states to respond promptly to such outbreaks and prevent pandemics. Ukraine also collaborates with partners to prevent the spread of viruses. The basic strategy in Ukraine and the world is the “One Health” program. This means that health care systems take into account risks to humans, animals, the environment, and regularly exchange information and synchronously respond to potential threats.

However, this does not mean that “globalists” are preparing to spread a new virus against humanity. On the contrary, the WHO and health ministries of other countries are trying to prevent the spread of deadly viruses.