# 2022 Ukrainian mobilization

General mobilization in Ukraine was announced on February 24, 2022, in connection with the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine forbade men of military age to leave the country so that they could be called up to fight at any time. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy also declared martial law. According to it, all men between the ages of 18 and 60 were considered liable for military service and could be mobilized if they didn't have the right to delay. At the same time, men who are subject to mobilization are prohibited from leaving the country. In the first weeks and months after the start of the Russian invasion, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian citizens voluntarily joined the military structures, going to the front. This collective enthusiasm had a significant impact on repelling the first offensive of the Russian forces.
As the war with Russia drags on, Kyiv finds it increasingly difficult to find new soldiers to replace its troops on the front line in conditions of positional warfare, lack of progress on the battlefield, and tens of thousands of soldiers killed or wounded. This contributed to the escalation of tension between the Ukrainian military and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who in December 2023 warned that up to half a million people were expected to be mobilized in Ukraine.
With the progress of the mobilization process, more and more men are avoiding conscription, and there are calls for the demobilization of those who have been on the front line for an extended period. According to the Ukrainian authorities, approximately nine thousand criminal cases have been initiated regarding the evasion of mobilization.
The mobilization process in Ukraine is accompanied by the widespread distribution of draft notices in public spaces and the emergence of conflicts between personnel at territorial recruitment centers (TRCs) and citizens. There have been reports of individuals being arbitrarily detained on the streets and transported to shopping malls, even without being issued with draft notices.
As the recruitment efforts intensified, disturbing incidents began to surface on social media, involving officers forcibly removing men from trains and buses and sending them to the front. Some individuals with sufficient financial resources attempted to evade service by purchasing medical exemptions. By the end of summer 2023, these instances of corruption had become so prevalent that on August 11, President Zelensky decided to dismiss the heads of recruitment offices in all regions of the country.

## 2022

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed decree 24 February 2022 No. 64/2022 "On the imposition of martial law in Ukraine" on general mobilization in the country, which would commence on 25 February for a period of 90 days, calling up conscripts and reservists; all male Ukrainian citizens aged 18 to 60 were prohibited from travelling abroad, unless they could provide documents that they fulfilled specified conditions for exemption. Mobilization was carried out in all regions. The General Staff had to determine the "order and volume" of those mobilized, and the government had to provide the necessary funding. The heads of regional administrations had to “ensure the creation and operation of regional, district and city medical commissions,” the decree specified. Zelenskyy did not support a petition to allow men between the ages of 18 and 60 to leave the country abroad. In May 2022, the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine's national parliament) extended martial law and mobilization in Ukraine for 90 days at once, until 23 August. Students, parents with three or more children under 18, caretakers of disabled dependents and those deemed medically unfit will not be mobilized.
From February 2022, since Russian invasion of Ukraine, first of all, reserve servicemen with combat experience who served in the Armed Forces under a contract or took part in hostilities in the Luhansk and Donetsk Oblasts of the Donbas will be mobilized first. Then, military personnel who served on conscription until 2014 will fall under mobilization. And then those who graduated from the military departments at universities and became a reserve officer, as well as other persons who do not have age and physical restrictions, will be mobilized. General mobilization was announced for a period of three months. The presidential decree was approved by the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine's national parliament) on 3 March 2022, and in accordance with it, men aged 18 to 60 will be mobilized. Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said that the Ukrainian authorities plan to mobilize 1,000,000 people.
According to the law "On mobilization training and mobilization", general mobilization in Ukraine is carried out simultaneously throughout its territory and concerns the economy, state authorities, local self-government, the armed forces, and other formations, enterprises, institutions, and organizations.
On 22 June 2022, a bill was submitted to the Verkhovna Rada prohibiting men of military age from traveling abroad during martial law. It is assumed that the circle of persons to whom an exception will be made will be determined by the law "On mobilization training and mobilization."
In July 2022, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine decided that from October in the military commissariats, all women who received education in the fields of chemistry, biology, and telecommunications will have to enter the military register. The ministry explained that all women liable for military service will not be able to travel abroad during martial law.
In August 2022, the Verkhovna Rada extended martial law and general mobilization until 21 November 2022.
In September 2022, Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Anna Malyar announced the forthcoming postponement of the deadlines for registering women for military registration for the next year, she clarified that: “The Ministry of Defense, within the framework of its powers, prepared a decree that once again postponed the deadlines for admitting women of certain professions / specialties to the military accounting for another year – until 1 October 2023.
On 17 November 2022, the Verkhovna Rada adopted laws approving presidential decrees on the extension of martial law and general mobilization in Ukraine for 90 days, until 19 February 2023.

## 2023

On 7 February 2 May, 27 July and 8 November 2023 the Verkhovna Rada adopted laws approving presidential decrees on the extension of martial law and general mobilization in Ukraine for 90 days each. Lasting from 19 February 2023 to 20 May, to 18 August, to 15 November, to 14 February 2024.
On 19 December 2023, President Zelenskyy said that the Ministry of Defense proposed to mobilize 450,000 to 500,000 additional Ukrainian citizens, including Ukrainian men living abroad, into the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Zelenskyy said that if needed, the conscription age could be reduced from 27 to 25 years. On 26 December, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Valery Zaluzhny, said that the military command had not formally requested the mobilization, and while it provides ongoing classified requests for various resources, it is not entitled to propose legislative initiatives.

## 2024

On 6 February and 8 May 2024, the Verkhovna Rada adopted laws approving presidential decrees on the extension of martial law and general mobilization in Ukraine for 6 months in total. Lasting from 14 February to 13 May, to 11 August 2024.
On 23 February 2024, the parliament of Ukraine passed a demobilization bill introduced by Zelenskyy. The bill stipulates that conscripts who have been mobilized since 2022 should be pulled in reserve for at least 12 months within the terms determined by the decree of the president of Ukraine. The demobilization came into effect in April and May 2024. It only targets young people who have completed their military service during martial law and have not been in reserve.
In late December 2023, due to the lack of recruits to the Armed Forces of Ukraine and at the urging of the former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Zaluzhnyi, a new draft bill was proposed in the parliament. The bill would, among other things, lower the conscription age from 27 to 25, set a limit to discharge conscripts after 36 months of active duty during martial law, give military recruiters and the state of Ukraine more legal pathways to restrict and punish draft evaders in Ukraine and abroad, and enable them to hand out call-up papers digitally. After initial hearing and a wave of criticism of it being unconstitutional the proposal was amended in mid-January 2024 and passed at the first hearing in the Verkhovna Rada. The final bill was expected to be adopted in March 2024, filling the gap of the 500,000 new conscripts Ukraine needs to sustain the war. At the end of March 2024, the Rada Committee on National Security, Defense, and Intelligence had reviewed 4,269 amendments. On 11 April the bill was passed in the Verkhovna Rada and on 16 April Zelenskyy signed it into law, scheduled to take effect a month after its signing on 18 May.
In late March 2024, the newly appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrsky, contrary to his predecessor Zaluzhnyi denied the need to mobilize 500 000, citing that after an audit that number had been significantly reduced. Previously, there had been an audit of the AFU forces at Syrsky initiative of a supposed gap of 700 000 soldiers in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, who the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Mykhailo Podoliak described as to have never seen the front-line.
On 2 April 2024, Zelenskyy signed a standalone bill lowering the mobilization age from 27 to 25. The bill had already been passed in the Verkhovna Rada since May 2023. This came just a week after Syrskyi's audit.
In mid-April 2024, Zelenskyy signed a new mobilization law aimed at increasing the number of soldiers. The law requires all Ukrainian men between the ages of 18 and 60 to register with the Ukrainian military and to carry their registration documents with them at all times. The government banned the issuance of new passports and the provision of non-emergency consular services to Ukrainian men of military age abroad.
On 17 May 2024, president Zelenskyy signed a law allowing some convicts to enlist in the army for a chance at a suspended prison sentence. The legislation excludes mass-murderers, rapists, and those who committed crimes against national security from enlisting.

## Draft dodging, bribes and demobilization

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, around 650,000 military-aged men have left the country. According to Ukrainian authorities, as of November 2023, around 20,000 people had been caught while trying to cross the border illegally since February 2022, and another 20,000 successful crossings were recorded between February 2022 and 31 August 2023 according to a BBC Eye Investigation.
Following the start of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, more than 20,000 foreigners volunteered to join the Ukrainian military. However, as of February 2023, the number of foreigners in the Ukrainian military was estimated at 2,000. Several reasons for this decrease have been given: "war tourists" and "thrill seekers" were weeded out, part of the volunteers left as they did not expect fighting of such a high intensity in harsh conditions, and some of them reported situations of violent abuse and "suicide missions".
In 2023, harsher methods of mobilization began to be used, such as road blocks, business raids, and pulling people from the streets. In the latter half of 2023, videos surfaced online showing Ukrainian men violently dragged into vans and driven to the military recruiting centers (TCC).
Corruption in military medical commissions was described as systematic by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in 2023, with bribes being given in exchange for exemptions from service. In at least one case, a mentally disabled person was declared fit for service, and in another an epileptic man died on his first day of service after being mobilized. A number of legal cases related to lawlessness in the recruitment of new conscripts have been opened.
Ukrainian Armed Forces servicemen are reported to be some of the oldest in the world, with an average age of 43 in November 2023, 10 years older than in March 2022.
The lack of resources for mobilization also affects rotation, with many soldiers having no rotation since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022. In October 2023, protests took place in seven Ukrainian cities, primarily consisting of wives and relatives of soldiers demanding demobilization. As part of these protests, around 100 relatives of soldiers held a demonstration in Kyiv.
On 23 April 2024, the Ukrainian foreign ministry announced that it would suspend consular services to overseas Ukrainian men who were eligible for military service, with the exception of those returning to Ukraine.
On 24 April 2024, the Ukrainian government issued a decree banning the delivery of identification documents and passports to Ukrainian men of military age abroad.
As of 26 April 2024, the Polish government has offered, and the Lithuania governments is considering, repatriating Ukrainian men living in their countries to Ukraine, so that they can be drafted into the Ukrainian military. It is a “very rough estimate” that some 300–400,000 men alone are living in Poland, but it is not clear how a forcible repatriation could be carried out in practice.

## Desertion

In early 2023, a new law was signed into the Ukrainian Parliament which stated that desertion or "failure to appear for duty without a valid reason" would result in up to 12 years in prison. Critics of the law argued that the law punishes soldiers more harshly rather than try to deal underlying causes of desertion. According to the Prosecutor General's Office, more than 60,000 criminal cases have been opened for desertion with almost half occurring between January 2024 and September 2024. This number rose to 80,000 by October 2024 and 100,000 by the end of November 2024. It is estimated that the number of deserters could be as high as 200,000. For Ukrainian penal battalions, if a soldier of a penal battalion attempts to desert or retreat without authorisation, an additional 5 to 10 years would be added to their sentence.