Zelenskyy criticizes practice of searching for conscripts 'on the street’, supports fair ‘digital format’ for recruitment

Mobilization should be fair, but demobilization should not be forgotten.

"Many people have fought for 700 days on the battlefield, I am grateful to them, but there is little gratitude from society. We have to give fair rotations, long vacations, and money cannot cover everything. The salary is high, but we need justice in this field. I expect the military to pass a law on fair mobilization," Zelenskyy said, adding that that he wants a "comprehensive and fair" law.

"No one is talking about a popular or unpopular decision. It is important that the military and the Defense Ministry resolve this issue fairly."

Zelenskyy also criticized the practice of searching for conscripts “on the streets” and suggested using a “digital format” for recruitment.

"We live in the age of digitalization. Besides, we have established this process both during the pandemic and during the war. So there is no problem to solve this in the modern world."

Earlier, the head of the Servant of the People faction, David Arakhamia, said that Ukraine plans to introduce a certificate of military service for people of mobilization age (27-60 years old).

The new bill on mobilization in Ukraine may provide a certificate that would be displayed through the Unified State Web Portal of Electronic Services, in particular using the Diia portal mobile application.

The Cabinet of Ministers registered a mobilization bill in the Verkhovna Rada on Dec. 25, 2023.

The document received a lot of criticism. After the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence began considering the bill on Jan. 4, its secretary, Roman Kostenko, said that the committee had questions to almost all 73 pages of the draft law.

Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said that some of its provisions restrict the rights of Ukrainians and contradict the Constitution.

The Ukrainian parliament was set to vote on the Cabinet's draft law on mobilization on Jan. 11, but, following a meeting of MPs with Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Rustem Umerov, and Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces Serhiy Shaptala, it was returned to the government for revision.

Provisions included in the bill’s initial version included: lowering the draft age from 27 to 25 years, abolishing conscription, sending draft notices electronically, the possibility of discharge after three years of continuous service during martial law, introducing basic military training for three months for all citizens aged 18 to 25.

Media reported on Jan. 18 that MPs expect the second version of the draft law on improving mobilization in the first week of February.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy sees no need to mobilize half a million people in Ukraine, he said in an interview with the British TV Channel 4 News, published on Jan. 21.