Lawmakers have not yet decided how to punish draft dodgers

The draft law on toughening mobilization has excluded an entire section of changes to the Administrative Procedure Code, which would have introduced the possibility of freezing accounts and prohibiting the use of vehicles. However, some mechanisms of punishment will still be in place. This was stated by Yuriy Zdebiskiy, a member of the parliament’s defense committee from the presidential faction “Servant of the People.”

“But the fact that we voted to remove this section does not solve the problem. We cannot influence people who do not want to be mobilized with large fines or anything else. The mechanism simply does not work. Therefore, the decision has not yet been made; the committee will still consider it,” said Zdebiskiy.

He says that a decision has already been made to gather MPs in the Verkhovna Rada to discuss this issue of punishing draft dodgers, but the date of the meeting is unknown. “When everyone gathers and votes for the draft law, a finally elaborated comparative table will be available,” Zdebiskiy said. Earlier, draft dodgers were to be prohibited from driving a car, leaving the country (although exit is already prohibited), freezing their accounts, confiscating property, and imposing hefty fines.