Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada passes Zelenskyy’s demobilization bill
Members of the Verkhovna Rada unanimously backed President Zelenskyy’s bill for the demobilization of conscripts, MP Oleksiy Honcharenko reported on Feb. 23.
The bill was adopted by 318 votes in favor. It was previously amended to include a provision on the postponement of further mobilization for 12 months.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy submitted the bill to the parliament earlier. It proposes to regulate the possibility of discharging military personnel to reserve during a military situation in Ukraine for those who have served the established terms of conscription.
The Verkhovna Rada’s Social Policy Committee unanimously decided on Jan. 8 to recommend that the Defense Committee finalize the bill on mobilization submitted by the government. The Anti-Corruption Committee found risks in the document. Eventually, after a meeting with the defense minister and the Armed Forces leadership, the document was returned to the government for revision.
Ukraine’s government registered a new version of the conscription bill in parliament on Jan. 30. It proposes, among other things, introducing draft notices through the conscript’s electronic office. Other innovations include lowering the conscription age to 25, setting the demobilization period at 36 months, introducing voluntary mobilization for convicts, restrictions on draft dodgers, and banning civil service without military training.
Deputy Head of the Parliamentary Defense Committee Yehor Chernev said that they still had questions about the bill, but that the second version, according to him, was more workable.
MPs supported the bill in the first reading on Feb. 7. It will be amended before the second reading.
Read also: Mobilization strategy hinges on rotation to regulate frontline
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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
