A rank-and-file city council specialist and a minister are both formally "female officials." However, until this week, both operated under identical martial law restrictions on crossing the border. The Cabinet of Ministers recognized this equality as excessive.
What the government decided
The Cabinet of Ministers canceled restrictions on exit for female employees of state authorities, local governments, state enterprises, and other designated institutions. Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko announced the decision. Restrictions remain only for the highest state officials and heads of key government bodies — those whose absence directly affects the continuity of state operations.
"To ensure the continuous operation of the state" — this is exactly how the Cabinet explains the preservation of exit restrictions for senior leadership.
Glavkom
How this happened in stages
The current decision is not a sudden move. According to Glavkom, back in September 2025, the Cabinet lifted the ban on female deputies of local councils — regional, city, district, municipal, and village councils (except those who are local government officials). The current decision extends liberalization to a much broader circle.
In parallel, starting March 2026, simplified exit procedures for conscripted men came into effect — meaning the easing of movement restrictions is happening systematically, not in isolated cases.
Why restrictions existed for women in the first place
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, women in Ukraine have not been subject to the general exit ban. However, as lawyer Yaroslav Khlivnyi explained in comments to RBC-Ukraine, separate categories — holders of government positions, heads of central authorities, and their deputies — faced special restrictions. The logic: not mobilization-based, but administrative — to protect the state apparatus from staffing gaps at a critical moment.
- Female military personnel under contract are equated with conscripted men — restrictions remain in place for them.
- Senior state leadership — ministers, heads of central bodies — are not covered by the new decision.
- A broad circle of mid-level and lower-ranking civil servants — now have the freedom to cross the border without additional permission.
In effect, the government drew a distinction between positions essential to state functioning and the rest — and lifted restrictions precisely from the "rest." The question that remains open: where is the line between a "key government body" and an ordinary state enterprise — and who determines this line and by what criteria, if tomorrow the list of "key" bodies suddenly expands.
