Mobilization in Ukraine: Will the new law help expand the army and improve Ukraine’s defense?

When Russia unleashed its full-scale war against Ukraine, the aggressor country had overwhelmingly more manpower and equipment than its southwestern neighbor. Despite its shortcomings, Ukrainians enlisted to defend their homeland en masse, and the Ukrainian army could repel the attack and push out the Russian forces from the occupied areas in the Kyiv, Chernihiv, and Sumy regions. With the support of Western partners, the Ukrainian armed forces later planned successful counteroffensives. They liberated the Kharkiv region and part of the Kherson region, including the major city of Kherson.

Two years later, the Ukrainian forces started to experience troop shortages due to ongoing losses and fatigue, as many soldiers who had been fighting for extended periods weren't relieved and weren't replaced with recruits. The new law is meant to solve Ukraine's mobilization issues, like replenishing the Ukrainian military's ranks, streamlining the process of identifying and registering potential conscripts, and addressing the problems of draft evasion and demobilization for long-serving soldiers.

The Ukrainian Parliament has passed changes to the existing mobilization law, which will take effect on May 18. According to this law, all military service registrants must update their personal data within 60 calendar days, from May 18 to July 16. Rubryka explains how the law works and how Ukraine wants to use it to conduct mobilization.

What the law covers 

The mobilization law includes several amendments, which primarily concern military registration rather than the mobilization process. Roman Kostenko, the secretary of the parliamentary committee on national security, defense, and intelligence, confirmed this during an interview on Radio Liberty.

He stated, "The 'Mobilization Law' can't really help with mobilization. Its primary purpose is not mobilization but ensuring that we register people. The task for the country was to understand our human resources: how many people we have, how many are fit for service, how many are not, how many are disabled, and how many have left. We need to know our potential. Who can support the economy, who can fight, and who cannot."

One of the new law's obligations for Ukrainian citizens is updating personal data for military service registration. It also requires men aged 18 to 60 to carry their military registration documents and show them upon request to staff at recruitment centers, police, or border guards.

Where and who needs to update their data

Men aged 18 to 60 who are subject to mobilization, including those abroad, must update their data at recruitment centers, regardless of their fitness for service. Women with medical or pharmaceutical qualifications registered for military service must also update their data.

The law provides several options for registering personal data, both online and offline. Online registration can be done through an electronic conscription office available in a mobile app starting May 18 (the app's name will be announced then). Offline registration can be done at territorial recruitment and social support centers or administrative service centers.

Electronic conscription office

After the bill's first reading, there was much discussion about the feasibility of an electronic conscription office. People wondered if it would issue summonses if it would violate the rights of those unable to register online. Citizens are also interested in whether it would have issues similar to those of the Diia government app, which was created to improve the interaction between the government and citizens and provide most public services the government could provide Ukrainians.

The latest version of the bill addresses these questions. Summonses will not be issued through the electronic office. Registering in the office is optional and only for those who want to use it, such as people abroad or those who don't want to wait in line at recruitment centers.

According to the Ministry of Digital Development and Digitalization, the app's design will be similar to Diia. To create an electronic office, users need to download the app, log in through BankID or Diia.Signature, and update their information, including phone number, email, and current address.

All other data, including name, date of birth, passport details, tax number, and marital status, will be automatically added to the electronic office from the Unified Register of Conscripts, Military Service Registrants, and Reservists called "Oberih." Users can access this data and see what information is available to the system.

Interestingly, the Ministry of Defense sees the "Oberih" register as a solution to prevent corruption and modernize the system, eliminating paper records in recruitment centers. 

Note: The Ministry of Health is not yet included in the list of registers providing information to "Oberih," so medical commissions must still be completed in person.

Updating data offline abroad

The law states that men required to update their military records who are abroad will have limited consular services if they don't update their data, meaning issuing or renewing passports will be paused. The Ukrainian government is working on a procedure to update military records directly at consulates. Still, it offers several other options: doing it by phone or email through the official recruitment center website or using the electronic conscription office.

MP Fedir Venislavskyi, a member of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security and Defense, says that users will receive a personal QR code confirming the data update after registering in the electronic office. With this, they can access all necessary consular services at Ukrainian diplomatic missions.

Men who have been abroad for more than three months and were removed from the military register must re-register within 30 days after the Cabinet of Ministers issues a decree detailing the registration procedure for such citizens.

Repeating the medical commission

Yurii Hlushchenko, Ukraine's General Staff spokesperson, states, "Currently, the focus is solely on updating data." He adds that a medical commission is only necessary when a conscript receives a summons. If the recruitment center has questions, they may contact individuals for additional information.

There are some nuances. Since the law eliminates "limited fitness" status, all registrants with this status must retake the medical commission by February 4, 2025, even those who updated their data online. The recruitment center will notify and issue directions. Under the new law, medical commission findings are valid for one year, meaning registrants must undergo the commission annually.

What now?

Before the full-scale war, the Ukrainian army had about 250,000 people serving in its ranks. After 2022, this number increased to 880,000 troops, thanks mainly to volunteer fighters and mobilization efforts. Ukrainian military officials stated that the initial target of the new law was to mobilize an additional 500,000 troops, although this number has been reduced to a lower, unspecified figure. 

Overall, the new mobilization law attempts to modernize Ukraine's recruitment system and address the logistical and administrative challenges associated with large-scale mobilization. By leveraging digital tools, the government aims to make the recruitment process more efficient and comprehensive​ and improve the mobilization process. However, the law still needs to resolve the issue of demobilization for long-serving soldiers.

The public and service members criticized the new mobilization law because it did not include provisions for demobilization. Earlier drafts included clauses for demobilizing personnel after 36 months of service and rotating those on the front lines for over six months. These clauses were removed after military leadership argued they would deplete experienced troops without adequate replacements. 

The Ministry of Defense is now developing a separate law to address demobilization. It, hopefully, will solve the problem of troop rotation, which is crucial for maintaining the military's morale and effectiveness.