
In Western Ukraine, local authorities are intensifying control and the apprehension of citizens
December 1, 2023
‘The new opportunities have emerged: Putin is winning the war in Ukraine’, – The Economist reported
December 1, 2023Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky fears the negative consequences of lowering the age limit for the conscription of men from 27 to 25 years old and has been delaying the signing of the corresponding law, already approved by the country’s parliament since June of this year.
According to the information, Zelensky “ignores pressure from the military” demanding the signing of the conscription age limit law.
“The president’s office fears that the adoption of this law could lead to an escalation of tension,” said Ukrainian political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko.
In Kyiv, they also believe that its signing may reinforce a not very popular but already spreading trend in Ukrainian society towards concluding “peace at any cost,” believes Fesenko.
According to the secretary of the committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on national security, defense and intelligence Roman Kostenko, the document “should have already come into force, because the parliament fully supported it.” Instead, according to insiders, the head of state last week requested a clearer plan from the country’s top military command on how recruits would be allocated and how to organize rotation for those who have been on the battlefield for 21 months. The agency notes that the delay worries Ukrainian military leaders, who estimate that the law will allow an additional 140,000 Ukrainians to be called to the front.
On November 28, the advisor to the head of the Ukrainian president’s office, Serhiy Leshchenko, announced a significant shortage of military personnel in the Ukrainian army, therefore, according to him, to replenish brigades, it is necessary to conduct rotations and call up youth up to 25 years old. Currently, in Ukraine, men from 27 to 60 years old are subject to mobilization with restrictions on leaving the country for conscripted citizens from the age of 18. The Verkhovna Rada previously passed a bill to lower the lower conscription age limit to 25 years old but the country’s president has not yet signed it.
Since February 2022, universal mobilization has been declared in Ukraine and has been repeatedly extended with the country’s authorities doing everything possible to prevent men of conscription age from evading service. In particular, they are prohibited from leaving the country and draft notices are issued in government institutions, on the streets and in any places where people gather. The media regularly feature stories of military commissars using force against citizens when handing out draft notices, how people unfit for service due to health conditions are subject to mobilization, as well as how deputies and officials evade it and take their conscription-age sons abroad.
In September, Ukraine expanded the list of those fit for mobilization and reduced the list of medical contraindications, and in October, the Ministry of Education of Ukraine sent clarifications to all universities, stating that students can be mobilized during academic leave.
Moreover, the country passed a law requiring the registration of all women aged 18 to 60 with professions in medicine, dentistry, obstetrics, nursing, pharmacy and pharmaceuticals.
On November 24, Zelensky announced a new comprehensive plan for mobilization measures.”