Contentious Ukraine law on troop hiring kicks in

Kyiv, May 18

A divisive mobilisation law in Ukraine came into force on Saturday, as Kyiv struggles to boost troop numbers after Russia launched a new offensive that some fear could close in on Ukraine’s second-largest city.

The legislation, which was watered down from its original draft, will make it easier to identify every conscript in the country. It also provides incentives to soldiers, such as cash bonuses or money toward buying a house or car, that some analysts say Ukraine cannot afford.

Steps reflect growing strain of war

• Lawmakers dragged their feet for months and only passed the law in mid-April, a week after Ukraine lowered the age for men who can be drafted from 27 to 25
• The measures reflect the growing strain that more than two years of war with Russia has had on Ukraine’s forces, who are trying to hold the front lines in fighting that has sapped the country’s ranks and stores of weapons and ammunition
• Zelenskyy also signed two other laws, allowing prisoners to join the army and increasing fines for draft dodgers fivefold

Lawmakers dragged their feet for months and only passed the law in mid-April, a week after Ukraine lowered the age for men who can be drafted from 27 to 25. The measures reflect the growing strain that more than two years of war with Russia has had on Ukraine’s forces, who are trying to hold the front lines in fighting that has sapped the country’s ranks and stores of weapons and ammunition.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also signed two other laws Friday, allowing prisoners to join the army and increasing fines for draft dodgers fivefold. Russia enlisted its prisoners early on in the war, and personnel shortages compelled Ukraine to adopt the new, controversial measures.

Concerns about the law

Oleksii, 68, who runs a car repair shop in Kyiv, worries his business will have to shut down as he expects 70 per cent of his workers will be mobilised. He asked that only his first name be used to allow him to speak freely.

“With the new law, people will be mobilised and we will have to shut down and stop paying taxes,” Oleksii told The Associated Press on Saturday. He said it’s very difficult to replace workers because of their specialised skills. Most of them are already in the armed forces, he said, adding that the law is “unfair” and “unclear”.

Even essential municipal services will be affected. Viktor Kaminsky, the head of a municipal service department in Kyiv that fits households with heating and repairs utilities in public buildings, said he will struggle to replace mobilised staff and meet demand, even though the law allows him to retain half of workers deemed fit for service.

He said 60 of the 220 people working in Kaminsky’s department will be eligible to be called up. “If they take 30 people from what we have, the problem is we don’t have anyone to replace them,” he said.

“There are pros and cons to this law,” Kaminsky said. “It’s hard to avoid the mobilisation process now, compared to before when people were trying to get around it.” But, he said, it would be better if essential workers like his were granted more exemptions.

Kyiv forces under strain

Ukraine has struggled for months to replenish depleted forces, as Russian troops are pushing ahead with a ground offensive that opened a new front in the northeast and put further pressure on Kyiv’s overstretched military. After weeks of probing, Moscow launched the new push knowing that Ukraine suffered personnel shortages, and that its forces have been spread thin in the northeastern Kharkiv region.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday during a visit to China that the Russian push aims to create “a buffer zone” rather than capturing Kharkiv, the local capital and Ukraine’s second-largest city.

Still, Moscow’s forces have pummelled Kharkiv with strikes in recent weeks, hitting civilian and energy infrastructure and prompting angry accusations from Zelenskyy that the Russian leadership sought to reduce the city to rubble. On Friday, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said that Russian guided bombs killed at least three residents and injured 28 others that day.

The US last week announced a new USD 400 million package of military aid for Ukraine, and President Joe Biden has promised that he would rush badly needed weaponry to the country to help it stave off Russian advances. Still, only small batches of US military aid have started to trickle into the front line, according to Ukrainian military commanders, who said it will take at least two months before supplies meet Kyiv’s needs to hold the line. — AP