Demobilization clause removed from Ukraine's conscription law — opposition MP

Ukraine's Parliament has removed the provision regarding demobilization from the conscription law, opposition Holos party MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak said on Telegram on April 11.

A total of 227 MPs voted in favor of this decision, Zheleznyak said.

The amended conscription law no longer includes the provision for demobilizing military personnel after 36 months of service without additional decisions from the Supreme Commander-in-Chief's Staff.

All technical amendments are "smoothly progressing through confirmation," he said.

Read also: Parliament expects to vote on demobilization bill in eight months — Defense Ministry

The votes of two MPs from the Batkivshchyna party were decisive in denying servicemen the right to be discharged from military service, said co-chair of the European Solidarity party Iryna Herashchenko.

"MPs Abdullin and Bondarov, alongside the Opposition Platform - For Life party and the (ruling) party Servant of the People, voted against demobilization," she said.

The day prior, Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, proposed excluding demobilization and rotation provisions from the conscription bill. The Parliamentary Committee on National Security and Defense recommended drafting a new demobilization bill within eight months.

Conscription reform

The Ukrainian government submitted the revised conscription bill to parliament on Jan. 30, 2023. It proposed lowering the draft age to 25 years, setting the demobilization term to 36 months, introducing voluntary mobilization for convicts, and establishing an electronic notification system for issuing draft summons.

Read also: Ukraine moves toward conscripting certain groups of convicts for contracted military service

The bill has already passed its first reading in the Parliament and has been considered by the Defense Committee, which reviewed all 4269 amendments.

The Cabinet of Ministers also proposed introducing demobilization for active-duty conscriptions in connection with the expiration of their term of service – in case of continuous service during martial law for 36 months. In this case, discharge from military service should be carried out within the timeframe determined by the decision of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief's Staff.

The Ukrainian parliament has invited the top military leadership to speak before debating a conscription reform bill on April 10.

Read also: Parliament rejects mobilization deferment for high earners

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine