The Ukrainian parliament wants to lower the age of those who can be called up for military service from 27 to 25 years. This was stated in the text of the draft law published on Parliament’s website late on Monday.
The proposed change is necessary now that Ukraine's battle against Russia has lasted 22 months. The draft text details what Ukrainian citizens must register for military service, saying it applies to those “who have reached the age of 25.”
An explanatory memorandum signed by Defense Minister Rustam Umarov summarized the main provisions of the draft law, saying it included “changing the conscription age from 27 to 25 years.”
In his year-end press conference on December 19, President Volodymyr Zelensky said the military had proposed mobilizing between 450,000 and 500,000 additional Ukrainians. Zelensky described that as a “very serious number” at the time, and has yet to publicly support the proposal.
The exact number of Ukrainian soldiers deployed in the battle is unknown, but it has been said in the past that the country has around a million people under its arms. US officials estimate that hundreds of thousands have been killed and wounded since Russia invaded Ukraine. Neither country published figures on the number of casualties.
David Arakhamia, head of Zelensky's party in parliament, said the government is working on the draft law at the request of the military, and it will be presented on Monday. “The army needs a solution to its problems,” he said in a message on the messaging app Telegram earlier on Monday.
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