'There will be no popular solutions,' military ombudsman says of mobilization reform
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Ukraine is studying the feasibility of introducing fixed terms of service for its soldiers, but such changes won't be possible without strengthening mobilization, military ombudsman Olha Reshetylova has said.
Reshetylova's comments, published on April 6 in an interview to RBC Ukraine recorded on March 24, come as the Defense Ministry under new minister Mykhailo Fedorov has sought to address problems with Ukraine's increasingly unpopular forced mobilization process while also creating mechanisms to clarify when soldiers can be discharged.
Reshetylova said the relationship between mobilization and fixed terms of service is such that addressing one will likely only exacerbate the other. In practice, that means any move to guarantee soldiers a discharge date would require enough new recruits to replace those leaving the ranks.
"You can't expect fixed terms of service without strengthening mobilization," she said.
"There will be no popular solutions here. Obviously, they will be unpopular, and society should be ready for that."
According to the ombudsman, cracking down on illegal and corrupt methods of avoiding service is a priority, after which reforms can be made to the rules on AWOL cases and desertion.
Another major problem was low-quality mobilization, Reshetylova said, citing the case of one unnamed unit, where more than 2,000 of the newly mobilized troops it received were found to be legally unfit for service in the first place.
"We need to calculate how much low-quality mobilization costs us," she said.
"When a man has a legal right to deferment or obvious health problems, but he is mobilized, resources are spent on him, at least for his provision."
The military ombudsman's position was set up in 2025 by President Zelensky, in an effort to provide civilian oversight over the rights of those serving in the military, at a time when more and more attention has been paid to violations of these rights.
Reforming mobilization and AWOL/desertion regulations has also been a stated priority of Fedorov, who has also announced a broad audit of the defense ministry, including battlefield losses.
Even as Russia's full-scale war enters its fifth year, active service members — mobilized or volunteer — are expected by law to serve until the end of martial law is announced.
Three year standard terms of service were initially slated to be part of a larger mobilization reform bill in 2024, but the clause was omitted upon request by Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrksyi before the bill was passed by parliament.
Meanwhile, although a minority of Ukrainians support handing over new territory to Russia in exchange for a promised peace deal, the tension in society caused by the sustained pressure of forced mobilization is slowly growing, with attacks against draft officers increasing in frequency.
