Ukrainian artillery forces on one of the fighting fronts (Anatolia Agency)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree on Thursday allowing the discharge of conscripts who joined the army before the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022 and completed their service, at a time when Kiev is facing difficulty in recruiting.
The military personnel concerned by the decree are conscripts whose military service was extended and was supposed to end before February 24, 2022, when martial law was declared in response to the Russian attack.
This process will require "a few weeks of preparation procedures," Zelensky said in his daily address, adding that the conscripts will be demobilized starting next month, and the people involved will join the reserve forces, but can remain in the army if they wish.
The issue of recruitment to replace exhausted soldiers after two years of war has become a sensitive political and societal issue in Ukraine in recent months, and despite the need for renewal, the army is facing difficulty in finding volunteers, especially as its ammunition runs out and attacks by Russian forces escalate on all fronts.
In early February, Parliament voted in its first reading on a draft law to facilitate recruitment, which would allow the replacement of physically and psychologically exhausted soldiers, but it raises a heated debate, as the draft law, which is still subject to amendment, stipulates lowering the mobilization age from 27 to 25 years. Military service is limited to 36 months in times of war.
But this possibility worries many people, and video clips are circulating on Ukrainian social media pages showing the use of force during the arrest of people wanted for military service, in addition to sharing information about where police officers distribute summonses.
Source: Agencies