Ukraine's government introduces bill on improving mobilisation and military records

A bill to enhance military records and mobilisation has been submitted to the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine’s Parliament) by the Cabinet of Ministers.

Source: Taras Melnychuk, representative of the Cabinet of Ministers in the Verkhovna Rada

Quote: "The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, as a body with the power to propose legislation, has submitted a draft law On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine on Improving Certain Issues of Mobilisation, Military Registration and Military Service to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine."

Details: The bill is registered under registration number 10378, as shown on the Verkhovna Rada website. 

Melnychuk also said that the government has also registered a draft law On Amendments to the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offences and the Criminal Code of Ukraine regarding the Strengthening of Responsibility for Military Offences.

Updated: Hromadske journalists were able to access and download a note explaining the contents of the draft law before the Verkhovna Rada website became temporarily inaccessible to the public.

The journalists reported that the law introduced the following changes:

• Conscription age to be changed from 27 to 25;
• The procedure for military registration of conscripts, persons liable for military service and reservists to be improved;
• Soldiers freed from Russian captivity to be given more time to rest and recover by granting them an additional 90 days of paid leave;
• The draft law proposes to cancel mandatory military service and to discharge military personnel currently undergoing it into reserve;
• There is a provision that persons liable for military service who served under martial law and were discharged into the reserve cannot be called up during mobilisation for two years after being discharged. These persons can be called up during this two-year term should they wish to join the armed forces;
• The draft law makes changes to the list of health conditions that might limit a person’s ability to serve in the military;
• It introduces a basic three-months-long military training for all Ukrainian citizens aged 18 to 25 in every educational establishment;
• It also introduces an optional military service for persons aged under 25 who were not able to complete basic military training;
• It imposes restrictions on Ukrainian citizens who evade registering with a military enlistment office and completing military service;
• Administrative service centres and employment and recruitment centres are to be involved in military recruitment.

The draft law also proposes to deliver military call-up notices via email and an online service for conscripts, persons liable for military service and reservists.

This draft law will now be reviewed by the Ukrainian parliament. The amendments listed above are therefore subject to change.

Background:

• On Monday, 25 December, Davyd Arakhamiia, leader of the Servant of the People party's parliamentary faction, stated that the Cabinet of Ministers was supposed to submit a draft law on mobilisation to the Parliament on 25 December and announced that the military leadership had requested the mobilisation of 500,000 military personnel.
• At a recent meeting of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief's Staff, Ukrainian military officials proposed that an extra 450,000-500,000 people should be mobilised, but the issue is still being worked on, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

Support UP or become our patron!