In the latest episode of Ukraine This Week, host Anna Belokur dives into Russia’s withdrawal from Syria after the dictator Bashar al-Assad’s downfall, as well as a front line update from Ukraine and the controversy surrounding mobilizing younger men.
The Biden administration is urging Ukraine to lower its draft age from 25 to 18 in an effort to increase troop numbers, the Associated Press reported on Nov. 27, citing an unnamed senior Biden administration official.
Can Ukraine actually lower the mobilization age? There’s a complication many don’t know about.
The unnamed U.S. lawmakers have reportedly cited America's experience in the Vietnam War, when men aged 18-26 were drafted to fight, said Presidential Office advisor Serhii Leshchenko.
Sikorski said that the law should have been passed when there were "many volunteers" to serve in the army, and "people felt personally threatened."
Adopting demobilization law now could repeat the "mistake" of the Ukrainian People's Republic during its war against the Bolsheviks in 1918, said Ruslan Stefanchuk, speaker of Ukraine's parliament, on national television on July 25.
By early 2024, 40-year-old Pavlo Kovtoniuk had begun to understand that Russia’s two-year-long full-scale war against his country would require him to serve in the army sooner or later. But it wasn’t until two months ago that he updated his personal information with enlistment authorities – after the government
Less than 10% of partially eligible conscripts were assessed as unfit for military service after medical re-examination, Roman Horbach, head of the General Staff's personnel department, said on July 19 during a press conference.
From May 18 to July 16, 4,690,496 military-aged men updated their registration data by the July 17 deadline, the country's Defense Ministry has announced.
Ukrainians liable for military service who fail to update their data by July 17 may be fined up to Hr 25,000 (nearly $600) or put on the wanted list. The deadline for updating data expires on July 17, 2024.
Since Ukraine's new conscription law took effect, over 2,750 prisoners have been released from detention to join the Ukrainian military, the Washington Post reported on June 16.
Ukrainian conscripts and reservists living abroad for more than three months can now register for military service at foreign consulates, Ukraine's Defense Ministry announced on June 7.
As of June 1, Ukraine may no longer allow certain men with dual U.S.-Ukrainian citizenship aged between 18 and 60 to leave the country, the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine said on June 4.
Around 1.5 million military-aged men have successfully updated their military documents in compliance with a new mobilization law passed in late-May, the Defense Ministry reported on June 2.
Units with former prisoners will be established for assault operations and not involve other military personnel, Justice Minister Denys Maliuska said.
Nearly 350 prisoners have been released from detention to serve in the military after a new conscription law took effect, Justice Minister Denys Maliuska told the New York Times in an interview on May 24.
A court in Ukraine's Khmelnytskyi Oblast released another 50 prisoners on the condition that they join the military under the new conscription law, the court's press service reported on May 24.
According to the newly implemented law, all military-aged men, with some exceptions, must update their military documents within 60 days from May 18 at public service centers and enlistment offices, or via the online application Rezerv+.
Olena Berezhna, the National Police's spokeswoman, told Suspilne that truckers gathered in Kyrovohrad and Odesa oblasts. Later in the day, Suspilne reported that traffic on the Kyiv-Odesa highway had been restored.
The algorithm of consular services provision was updated to align with the new mobilization law's requirements, the Foreign Ministry said.
Key updates on May 17: * Ukrainian drones hit military facilities in Russia, Crimea amid Russian claims of over 100 drones downed * Zelensky says Russia's Kharkiv Oblast offensive advances as far as 10 km, halted by 1st defense line * Zelensky signs law amendments increasing fines for draft evaders, allowing some convicts
Last month, Ukraine's government decided to exempt from conscription employees at Favbet, Glovo, and the American-owned payment corporation Visa for six months.
According to State Border Guard spokesperson Andrii Demchenko, some categories of men who are allowed to leave the country will still be required under the new laws to show that they have registered at military conscription offices when crossing the border.
Members of the Military Medical Examination Commission can no longer use their own discretion when determining a person's eligibility for the military, the Defense Ministry said on May 4.
There are 94,643 men aged 18 to 65 in the Czech Republic who have temporary protection due to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, according to the Czech Interior Ministry.
The Estonian Interior Ministry does not plan to conduct forced repatriation of Ukrainian refugees staying in Estonia, Anneli Viks, the ministry's advisor on citizenship and migration policy, said on April 30 in an interview with Estonian media outlet ERR.
Justice Minister Denys Maliuska said that this is part of Ukraine's regular updates on what restrictions it might impose and is part of Kyiv's international obligations.
Returning men of draft age to Ukraine is "ethically ambiguous" and Ukraine will thus have to "take the in initiative" in the process, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said in an interview with Polish channel TVN24 on April 27.
Ukrainian refugees can get a temporary residence permit or prolong a valid one in Germany even if their passports are terminated, Deutsche Welle reported on April 25, citing a representative of the Berlin Senate.
Seventy-four percent of surveyed companies in Ukraine are experiencing a personnel shortage, according to a new study published by the European Business Association (EBA) on April 24.
Poland will help Ukraine bring its military-aged men back following new changes to passport and consular service laws for Ukrainian men living abroad, Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said on April 24.
The Ukrainian government has banned sending identification documents and passports abroad for Ukrainian men aged 18 to 60, according to a decree published on the Cabinet of Ministers' website on April 24.
