0 out of 25,000

Quality journalism takes work — and a community that cares.
Help us reach 25,000 members by the end of 2025.

News Feed

Ukraine amends conscription rules for military industry workers

1 min read
Ukraine amends conscription rules for military industry workers
A Ukrainian-made Neptune missile being fired on April 5, 2019. (The Presidential Office of Ukraine)

The Ukrainian government changed the rules regarding the conscription of workers from the military industry, allowing companies producing military equipment to staff without restriction, the Economy Ministry wrote on Jan. 16.

Discussions on mobilization have been ongoing since Dec. 19, when President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine's military leadership had proposed to mobilize up to 500,000 additional conscripts.

Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi then denied that figure but said that the military did have a plan for mobilization numbers for 2024.

The change in the conscription rules for military industry workers is "aimed at strengthening the potential of the defense industry and enabling defense companies to operate steadily and increase production," said Deputy Economy Minister Ihor Fomenko.

According to the changes, employees of companies designated as being "critical to the defense industry" will be exempt from conscription.

The exemption will apply regardless of rank, age, and military specialization and without limitations on the number of workers in question.

"Our top priority is to provide our defenders with everything they need to win," said Fomenko.

Lawmakers return crucial mobilization bill to government for revision
Avatar
Nate Ostiller

News Editor

Nate Ostiller is a former News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. He works on special projects as a researcher and writer for The Red Line Podcast, covering Eastern Europe and Eurasia, and focused primarily on digital misinformation, memory politics, and ethnic conflict. Nate has a Master’s degree in Russian and Eurasian Studies from the University of Glasgow, and spent two years studying abroad at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in Ukraine. Originally from the USA, he is currently based in Tbilisi, Georgia.

Read more
News Feed
Video

Pokrovsk, a city that held back some of Russia’s fiercest assaults for over a year, is now on the verge of falling. The Kyiv Independent’s Francis Farrell explains how the battle reached this point and what Pokrovsk’s fall could mean for the wider defense of Donetsk Oblast.

"We do not accept this obviously unlawful solution contrary to European values," Orban said on a weekly radio show. "We are turning to the European Court of Justice."

Show More