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Volodymyr Zelensky
Photo: AFP
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj issues a decree that gives long-term conscripts a breather.
"Today we issued a decree releasing into the reserve conscripts who were called up for military service before the start of the invasion," said the president in his evening video address.
The decree allows conscripts who were already drafted into military service before Russian troops crossed the border in February 2022 to take a longer break.
From April they will be transferred to the reserve and exempt from further call-ups for twelve months.
More than two years ago, Russia attacked Ukraine.
At that time, Kyiv ordered general mobilization.
Since then, men between the ages of 18 and 60 have only been allowed to leave Ukraine in exceptional cases.
Nevertheless, mobilization is sometimes difficult.
Around 650,000 Ukrainian men of military age have left the country.
The frontline fighters are tired, many of them are waiting to be relieved.
Parliament is currently discussing a new mobilization law.
The current draft stipulates that active service should be limited to 36 months; so far there is no limit.
The minimum age should be reduced to 25 instead of the current 27 years.
Recently, President Zelenskyj spoke for the first time about the number of soldiers killed in Ukraine.
According to his information from the end of February, 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers had died.
Zelensky rejected the loss figures cited so far by the American or Russian side, which suggest that 100,000 to 300,000 Ukrainian soldiers were killed.
asc/Reuters