Ukraine Ministry of Defence to Offer Vegan Rations to Military to Cater to ‘Health & Ethical Beliefs’

Ukraine’s defence ministry will provide vegan, halal and kosher military rations to its soldiers to meet their religious, ethical and health requirements.

Ukraine’s military will provide its soldiers with plant-based MREs (Meals, Ready-to-Eat) as part of an effort to make field rations more inclusive, the Ministry of Defence has announced.

From December, soldiers will be able to choose from a wider variety of meals that cater to vegan, halal or kosher requirements, once the product lines have been developed and approved.

The development comes on the back of multiple consultations between Ukraine’s government, religious leaders and animal rights charities. We are aware that many of our service members have different religious customs and specific dietary restrictions, so we actively partner with religious communities and nutrition experts,” said Dmytro Klimenkov, the country’s deputy defence minister.

“We also recognise the significance of making ethical choices, which is why plant-based field rations will be an important part of our new strategy. It goes beyond nutrition; it is also about showing respect for the personal beliefs of every soldier,” he added.

How vegan MREs for the Ukrainian military came to be

The defence ministry and the State Operator for Non-Lethal Acquisition (DOT) – its military procurement agency – have held discussions with the representatives of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, the Islamic and Jewish communities, and animal welfare organisations Every Animal and UAnimals.

This followed the signing of an MoU between UAnimals and the DOT in January, with the aim of developing plant-based meals for the armed forces. A month later, the charity started collaborating with Every Animal, which has been supporting the military with vegan MREs since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The two non-profits have been working with dietitian Mark Shpara and food companies Макро-2019 and Eat Me At to create a vegan MRE menu, helping develop rations with optimal costs, calorie content, nutritional value, and ease of preparation. They presented seven plant-based meals to the DOT in April, while meat analogue maker Happy Elk showcased 33 dishes.

Every Animal and UAnimals also presented a plant-based meal to Klimenkov at a meeting on Tuesday. This led to an agreement for continued cooperation to develop upgraded MREs.

“We believe that creating plant-based rations is about respecting our defenders,” said UAnimals founder Oleksandr Todorchuk. “We are glad that this process is moving forward, and we hope that soon the treatment of military personnel will reflect respect for their religious and other beliefs.”

“The concept of a diverse menu came about, among other things, because we move closer to European standards, where individuals with needs different from those of the community are not ignored but are given the necessary assistance,” added Halyna Litosh, director of food project portfolio management at the DOT.

Plant-based meals rooted in inclusivity

Calls to add meatless MREs for the military have been ringing since September 2022, when a petition by service member Pavlov Petro Mykhailovych calling on President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to create vegan and vegetarian meals for the military received over 25,000 signatures – the threshold that mandates petitions to be considered by the government.

In response, Zelenskyy said the “comprehensive provision of Ukrainian soldiers is one of the most urgent tasks of the security”, but added that current regulations didn’t account for catering vegetarian meals. That said, he still directed Prime Minister Denys Shmygal to work on the issue.

“We aim to address the requirements of our service members while respecting their beliefs, health, and ethical principles. Our goal is to create circumstances where every defender of Ukraine is comfortable and confident,” said Klimenkov, the deputy minister of defence.

In late 2020, the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology reported that 4.5 million Ukrainians were vegetarians (10% of the population at the time), and about 800,000 followed a vegan diet.

For now, vegan MREs are provided by volunteer organisations like Lviv Vegan Kitchen and Every Animal – the latter’s current plant-based parcels include eight appetisers and 10 mains with two types of plant-based meats (including Eat Me At’s soy protein analogues). These dishes include buckwheat soup, pea soup, borsch, as well as buckwheat, rice, pearl barley, and beans with vegetables. So far, the charity has delivered over 1,500 meals.

“Belonging to the Euro-Atlantic family, we must embrace an inclusive culture and strive to meet the needs of the military to the greatest extent possible,” said the DOT’s Litosh.

“We should aim to be more in line with the EU and NATO, not only in terms of standards but also in recognizing people’s choices. Improving nutrition inclusivity is not solely about changing field rations; it is about transforming mindsets and syncing with the Euro-Atlantic vector.”

Other recent examples of plant-based food in the military include Israel and the US.