Ukraine weighing 'radical' mobilization changes amid recruitment challenges, official says
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Ukraine is preparing changes to its mobilization system, including potential revisions to the country's draft age, secretary of the parliamentary defense committee Roman Kostenko said on Aug. 22.
Kostenko said that financial incentives offered to encourage Ukrainians to sign military contracts have failed to significantly increase recruitment, prompting officials to consider other measures.
"There are already talks and, as far as I know, some things are changing in the draft age," Kostenko said, adding that the Defense Ministry or General Staff would provide further details. He declined to say whether the draft age could be lowered or raised.
The lawmaker noted that Ukraine does not plan to move away from compulsory mobilization in favor of an exclusively voluntary system.
Kostenko also denied reports that authorities are considering eliminating mobilization exemptions for parents with three or more children, saying there are no such legislative initiatives currently under consideration.
No changes are planned regarding the mobilization of women, Kostenko said, adding that military service for women will remain voluntary.
As the fifth year of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine goes on, mobilization has become among the most contentious domestic issues in the country.
Ukraine's military faces a growing need to replenish fighting units, build reserves, and allow existing soldiers to rotate off the front line. As Ukraine steps up its mobilization efforts, draft offices are often accused of forced conscription without compliance with fundamental civil rights and ill-treatment of conscripts.
Under martial law, Ukrainian men aged 25 to 60 are currently subject to conscription and are forbidden from leaving the country except under a certain number of specific circumstances.
Meanwhile, Russia reportedly plans to mobilize around 300,000 people after State Duma elections in September, but will do so without touching the country's major cities in an effort to minimize backlash from society, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky told journalists on Aug. 23.
