Text of a draft law posted on the website of Ukraine’s parliament late on Monday proposed lowering the age of those who can be mobilized for combat duty to 25 from 27.
The proposed change comes as Ukraine’s 22-month-old battle against Russia drags on. On Sunday, Ukraine and Russia exchanged claims over downed military aircraft, and on Monday Ukraine denied Russia’s claim that its forces had seized the regional centre Maryinka in eastern Ukraine.
The draft text detailed which Ukrainian citizens would be subject to enrolment for military registration of conscripts and said it would apply to those “who have reached the age of 25.”
An explanatory note signed by Defence Minister Rustem Umerov summarized key provisions of the draft law, saying they included the “change of conscription age from 27 to 25 years.”
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told his end-of-year news conference on Dec. 19 that the military had proposed mobilising 450,000-500,000 more Ukrainians, but that it was a “highly sensitive” issue that the military and government would discuss before deciding whether to send the proposal to parliament.
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