Ukraine passes controversial law that increases pressure on civilians to join the ranks

Ukraine already has the law that the army urgently requested to ensure that it has enough troops to resist the Russian offensive. The new law on the mobilization of civilians to serve in the Armed Forces was approved this Thursday by the Rada, the Ukrainian Parliament. 283 deputies voted in favor, 43 abstained and only 1 voted against. The norm began to be debated last December and both the military leadership and the allies in NATO pressured kyiv to make it a reality as soon as possible. With this law, which increases pressure on civilians and toughens penalties for those who resist joining the ranks, the army expects hundreds of thousands of new recruits. As a novelty, the authorities will be able to withdraw the driving license or passport of those who ignore the call to be recruited.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reported last December that the Ukrainian Armed Forces expected to be able to legally recruit about 500,000 new soldiers, although army commander-in-chief Oleksander Sirskii noted in March that the number would ultimately be “ significantly lower.” The figure, according to analysts consulted by EL PAÍS, could range between 300,000 and 400,000.

The law already caused controversy last Tuesday, when it was learned that the text would not incorporate the return to civilian life of soldiers who have been fighting for three years. According to war veterans organizations consulted last week by EL PAÍS, 200,000 soldiers could be demobilized this year if the limit of three years of service is applied. Ukraine has nearly 900,000 men and women – these represent 8% of the total – participating in the country’s defense. Deputy Yaroslav Zhelezniak announced that the Rada had also approved a resolution to demand the Government find a formula to rotate at least 70,000 soldiers on the front.

Social networks were filled with messages from soldiers criticizing the fact that the possibility of returning to civilian life was left for an indeterminate future. “The Russian offensive continues on the entire front, at this time it is impossible to weaken our defenses,” argued Defense Ministry spokesman Dmitro Lazutkin on state television. This ministry estimates that the proposal to return veterans to civilian life will be faced in early 2025.

Uncertainty about how long one must serve in the military is one of the reasons why a majority of Ukrainians avoid enlistment. But the war needs new additions, both to replace the wounded and dead, and to give breaks to active military personnel. That is why, last week, Zelensky signed the law that reduces the mandatory age to serve in the army from 27 to 25 years. This law was approved by the Rada in May 2023, but the president had until now avoided giving it final approval. The average age in the Ukrainian Armed Forces is 42 years, the highest in the armies of Europe, according to soldiers consulted by the Ukrainian media. TSN.

No driving license or passport

The new regulations give more power to recruiting offices and police to identify people who ignore military summonses. A new system of sanctions is applied to these: a judge can withdraw the driving license of a citizen who does not respond to the calls from the recruitment office. Men of military age residing abroad, if they do not register at the embassy of the country of residence, will be denied consular assistance, including passport processing. The number of men who have left Ukraine has skyrocketed since 2023. If at the beginning of 2022, when the war broke out, adult men represented 17% of refugees in the European Union, they are now 34%, according to the European Office of Statistics (Eurostat).

More than 4,200 amendments were debated in the last two months in the Rada to prepare the final text. The reason for this is that it is an unpopular law because only 35% of Ukrainians of age to be mobilized today would be willing to enlist, according to a statistic provided to this newspaper on Wednesday by Oleksii Garan, professor of Political Science at Kyiv University. -Mohyla. The law is now awaiting signing by Zelensky. After that, it would come into effect in a month. Garan explained that the president has given public leadership over the law to the Rada, something unusual during the war, to avoid a worsening of his popularity. Zelensky’s party, Servant of the People, holds the absolute parliamentary majority. A survey by the Razumkov Center presented this week indicates that the president suffers a serious drop in citizen approval: 26% trust the figure of the president. The same survey in October 2023 indicated 56% confidence in him.

The amendments have made it possible to withdraw more severe sanctions proposed by the Government, such as prison sentences or the proposal to seize assets and bank accounts. Yes, a scale of fines has been maintained (they already exist now), which range between 400 and 1,500 euros. The number of professional sectors considered strategic is also limited and, therefore, avoid being mobilized. In the field of the press, the law estimates that only 700 journalists are essential in essential information tasks. Another novelty of the law is that it regulates the recruitment of people serving prison sentences, although people who have been sentenced for blood crimes, child abuse or sexual violence will not be mobilized.

The law also includes elements to encourage enlistment, although they do not represent a major change compared to the current situation. Those who respond on their own initiative to the call of the country will be able to choose the unit in which they want to serve; The military will have subsidies for the acquisition of vehicles and benefits to pay loans. The Government has also insisted in recent months that the law must serve above all to guarantee that each person assumes a position in the Armed Forces appropriate to their profile and training.

Three American generals stressed at the end of March at the Kiev Security Forum that, to stop Russia, it was as important as the supply of Western weapons for Ukraine to have a new conscription law. “The future of the war will depend on the decisions made about aid to Ukraine, but it also depends on the mobilization law. It is very important that this issue be resolved quickly,” said General and former CIA Director David Petraeus.

“I call on Ukrainians to put aside their emotions,” the head of the Army, Oleksander Pavliuk, said in a statement on April 8, “we have to assume that no one will be able to afford to sit idly by. “At the end of the day, what is at stake is the destiny of the nation.” “The more Ukrainians have the courage to join the Armed Forces,” Pavliuk stressed, “the fewer options Russia will have to carry out its bloody plans and the sooner peace will return to Ukrainian cities.”