When Ukraine approved its new mobilization law, most of the coverage revolved around the fact that it diminished the age for conscription from 27 to 25 years old.
But one sinister aspect that has passed almost unnoticed is that the military service limit provision was scrapped, meaning that – as it stands now – the Ukrainian soldiers are expected to stay in service until the war ends – unless they are injured or die before that.
Ukraine’s parliament finally adopted the mobilization law after months of debates and almost 4,300 revisions.
It left the troops ‘dumbfounded’ because earlier versions of the law had envisaged demobilization after 36 months of service.
Al Jazeera reported:
“Without the limits – and with the failure of last year’s counteroffensive and months-long delays of Western military aid – they realize that their service may only end with their disability or death.
‘The government humiliated and offended them’, [soldier wife] Alina, who lives in Kyiv with two children, told Al Jazeera. ‘They’re not eternal. They want to see their children grow, to be at home’, she said.”
The demobilization provision was cut at the request of Ukraine’s top military command.
“’The enemy outnumbers us seven to 10 times’, Joint Forces Commander Yurii Sodol told lawmakers on Wednesday, urging them to pass the law.”
The law was passed with the support of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s ‘Servant of the People’ party.
While the law boosts pay for front-line service and death benefits for families, both the troops and political opposition lambasted the scrapping of service limits.
Parliament urged the government to develop an additional bill on demobilization and rotation of servicemen.
Unsurprisingly, the scrapping of service limits drove seasoned soldiers mad. There are even people who started their service back in 2014 the separatist Donetsk and Luhansk Republics.
“’Who will I be next? Do I have to always remain a serviceman? Has my life been that insignificant? What makes other people’s lives more meaningful and less worthy of sacrifice than mine?’ [psychologist Artem Osipyan] asked rhetorically.”
Younger servicemen also find the situation unacceptable, and the uncertainty about demobilization is depressing and demoralizing soldiers and family alike.
“’You don’t have to be at war until you die, you need to know when your service ends’, the wife of a soldier stationed in the eastern town of Kramatorsk told Al Jazeera.”
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