Is it true that Ukraine will send a “gay battalion” to Donbass?

In March 2021, reports appeared on the Internet that the Ukrainian Armed Forces were recruiting a unit from LGBT representatives to participate in military operations in the east of the country. We checked whether this is actually true.

The first publications about the creation of a “gay battalion” in the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) began to appear on March 7, 2021. The Crimean division of RIA Novosti released note under the heading “To the front line: Ukraine plans to send a gay battalion of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to Donbass.” On the same day "Moskovsky Komsomolets" reported, that “in the Armed Forces of Ukraine they intend to form a platoon of representatives of non-traditional sexual orientation in one of the motorized rifle units.” Later, Russian officials began to comment on the news. Thus, the leader of the “A Just Russia” faction in the State Duma Sergei Mironov wrote on Twitter: “Ukraine is going to send a gay battalion of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to Donbass. Apparently, these are the last supporters of European independence who are ready to fight for Ukraine.” Supported his colleague and deputy Vitaly Milonov, who named the news is funny and added that “this reflects the essence of the Ukrainian army.”

The media that reported this news refer to publication, posted on March 6, 2021 in the Ukrainian group “LGBT Military and Our Allies” on Facebook. This community is the official page of the same name organizations, created in 2018. That same year, a column of community members took part in the Equality March as part of the Kyiv Pride. In addition, they are active in the media space: they shoot videos and participate in Ukrainian television programs. On official website The organization reports that its goal is “equality for the LGBT+ community, the right to marriage, family and non-discrimination... for all minorities and groups of law-abiding citizens of Ukraine without exception.” At the same time, the community’s audience is relatively small—the number of subscribers to the official group “LGBT Military and Our Allies” on Facebook is just over 1,000 people.

Although both RIA Novosti and Moskovsky Komsomolets refer specifically to this publication, their messages differ markedly from the content of the post. Thus, a note from RIA Novosti begins with the words “in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, recruitment has been announced for one of the motorized rifle units, where a platoon of representatives of the LGBT community will be formed.” The conclusion that the initiative comes directly from the Armed Forces of Ukraine can also be drawn from title "Moskovsky Komsomolets" 

Contrary to similar headlines and comments from senior Russian officials, the original publication refers not to a battalion, but to a platoon. Activists invite LGBT military personnel and specialists, as well as heterosexuals who support them, to “sign a contract with one of the motorized infantry units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” and after passing an interview and training, the platoon will “perform a task on the contact line.” The LGBT organization guarantees confidentiality, and invites those interested to write in messages in the group on Facebook. In response, administrators will provide the necessary information and a list of specialties for which you can apply. The organization “Military LGBT and Our Allies” separately emphasizes that it did not initially plan to make recruitment open.

Despite headlines in some Russian media linking the initiative to the leadership of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the military denied this connection. March 7, representative of the Ukrainian General Staff Bogdan Senyk reported, which considers the news “nonsense” that is being spread “with the aim of discrediting the Ukrainian army and the Armed Forces.” Senyk supported the previously spread version that the association “LGBT Military and Our Allies” is connected with the Kremlin—this was the conclusion made by the organization “Union of Veterans of the War with Russia.” This assumption is based solely on the fact that the website of the LGBT organization was hosted on Russian servers. Proponents of this version did not provide any other evidence. Activists this information refuted, and on March 9 they published a post in which tied up these charges with the upcoming elections to the Public Council under the Ministry of Veterans Affairs.

Thus, Ukrainian military personnel who identify as LGBT were actually offered to join one of the units. But the appeal does not say that it will be created specifically and will consist exclusively of representatives of sexual minorities. There is no confirmation that we are talking about a battalion - the source of the news talks about the formation of a platoon. It is also incorrect to associate this proposal with the leadership of the Armed Forces of Ukraine - the command denied this information, and it was not possible to find official documents on the creation of such a unit. In fact, the initiative comes from a relatively small public association, and it is unknown whether the call of this community will ultimately translate into the emergence of a real unit. Perhaps we are talking about an already existing platoon, whose leadership is known to members of the community as LGBT-friendly.

Mostly not true

What do our verdicts mean?

Read on the topic:

1. lgbtmilitary.org.ua
2. https://novyny.24tv.ua/ru/lgbt-podrazdelenija-vsu-rezkaja-reakcija-novosti-rossii-i-ukrainy_n1562172