Government submits draft law on mobilization to Verkhovna Rada

The government has submitted a draft law on mobilization and military service to the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, Taras Melnychuk, the Cabinet's representative in parliament, reported on Dec. 25.

Earlier on Dec. 25, David Arakhamia, head of President Volodymyr Zelensky's Servant of the People faction in parliament, said that the Cabinet was expected to submit the draft law today regardless of the holiday.

"The working algorithm has not changed. The military command has submitted a request to mobilize 500,000 military personnel. The government is developing rules," Arakhamia wrote.

During his press conference on Dec. 19, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine's military leadership had proposed to mobilize 450,000-500,000 additional conscripts but that the plan had yet to address several key issues before he could support it.

Zelensky: Military proposes to mobilize 450,000-500,000 new soldiers

Ukraine’s military leadership proposed to mobilize 450,000-500,000 additional conscripts, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Dec. 19, noting that the plan has yet to address several key issues before he can support it.

The Kyiv IndependentMartin Fornusek

"This is a serious number. I said I need more arguments to support this direction," Zelensky said during the press conference.

Echoing the president's statement, Arakhamia wrote that "simply recruiting new people and not solving the problems of those who are currently serving is not a solution."

"The military need solutions to their problems. Society wants answers to all sensitive questions."

During an interview with Suspilne on Dec. 24, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said he expected a bill on the mobilization of conscripts to be registered in parliament in the "coming days."

The bill would change the mobilization approaches in Ukraine to ensure that society does not see conscription as "punishment" and would address joining the military to serve the country, training conscripts, rotation, and finishing military service, he added.

Ukraine finally moves to fortify front line, but could it be too little too late?

“If you want to live, dig.” The words, often spoken by Ukrainian troops, are universal advice for trench warfare in general, but especially for both sides in Russia’s war against Ukraine. Normally expressed as advice to the individual soldier, the maxim now applies to the country as a whole.

The Kyiv IndependentFrancis Farrell