President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree on March 7 ordering to transfer some conscripts of compulsory basic military service to the reserve in the spring of 2024.
The decree applies to those conscripts whose term of service had expired during martial law and had been extended beyond the usual period.
Basic military service is compulsory in Ukraine for men aged 18-27, and it normally lasts at least a year. Members of this service haven't participated in military actions during Russia's full-scale invasion.
Martial law was introduced in Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, when Russia started its full-scale war. The measure has been repeatedly extended since then.
The changes in the Ukrainian legal framework come amid Ukraine's effort to ramp up mobilization in 2024 and solve the issue of rotation on the front line, as some of the soldiers have been serving with no break since the beginning of the all-out war in 2022.
The new decree applies to the soldiers of the Armed Forces, State Transport Special Service, and other military units.
The transfer will be conducted in April-May 2024. Upon the request of the military command, they are given several weeks to prepare for the transfer and replace some of the conscripts, Zelensky said in his evening address.
Zelensky signed into law a bill on Feb. 26 on conditions for the demobilization of conscripts.
The law includes a provision from the parliament's National Security and Defense Committee, which allowed conscripts to "postpone further mobilization for 12 months."
The parliament previously passed the broader bill on Feb. 7 regarding changes to Ukraine's wartime mobilization process in the first reading.
The bill sets out "transparent rules for the mobilization process, as well as necessary regulation of the rights of military personnel and conscripts."
More than 4,000 amendments to the bill have been submitted since its passing in the first reading.
Martin Fornusek
(Updated: )
