The proposed mobilization bill has become the focus of debate as more men evade the draft and calls are made to demobilize exhausted soldiers.
When Russian troops and tanks invaded Ukraine in February 2022, tens of thousands of Ukrainians rushed to serve in the army in a burst of patriotic fervor. The influx of fighters who dutifully responded to the draft or signed up as volunteers helped repel Russia's first attack and foil the Kremlin's plans to decapitate the Ukrainian government.
But after nearly two years of bloody fighting, and with Ukraine once again in need of fresh troops to fend off a new Russian offensive, military leaders can no longer rely on enthusiasm alone. More men are evading military service, calls to demobilize exhausted front-line soldiers have become more frequent.
mobilization bill , which could lead to the conscription of up to 500,000 troops. The bill was introduced to parliament last month, but was quickly withdrawn for revision.
The bill catalyzed discontent in Ukrainian society with the army recruitment process, which was condemned as riddled with corruption and increasingly aggressive. Many lawmakers say some of its provisions, such as banning draft evaders from buying real estate, could violate human rights.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyi appears unwilling to take responsibility for the large-scale draft, instead asking his government and army to provide more arguments in support of the move. "I haven't seen enough clear details to say we need to mobilize half a million" people, he said in a recent interview with Channel 4, a British broadcaster.
The military has suggested that the mass mobilization is a challenge for the civilian government, a response that could exacerbate simmering tensions between Mr. Zelenskyi and his commander-in-chief, Valery Zaluzhny. In autumn, the Ukrainian president reprimanded General Zaluzhny when he declared that the war had reached a stalemate.
"This is a hot potato," said Petro Burkovskyi, head of the Democratic Initiatives Ukrainian analytical center.
The challenge of mustering enough soldiers is just one of many facing Ukraine as foreign military and financial aid becomes harder to come by, threatening to weaken Kyiv's ability to hold the front line and sustain its economy.
The need to replenish the Ukrainian armed forces has been obvious for several months. While Kyiv keeps the number of casualties a secret, American officials this summer have put them at nearly 70,000 killed and 100,000 to 120,000 wounded.
Russian losses, according to American officials, were almost twice as high — the result of sending waves of troops in bloody assaults to capture cities, regardless of the human cost. But Russia has a much larger population, and it has added tens of thousands of prisoners to its ranks.
On the contrary, Ukraine's efforts to restore its armed forces have lagged behind.
Soldiers at the front said that they noticed a constant decline in the quality of recruits. Many of them are older, healing injuries from many years ago and have no motivation to fight. More men are also trying to avoid conscription by fleeing the country or hiding at home. Desertion, said one Ukrainian soldier stationed in the east, is also becoming a problem.
This prompted military recruiters to adopt more aggressive tactics, forcing men into conscription centers, detaining them, sometimes illegally, and forcing them to enlist. Lawyers and activists have spoken out, but there are no signs of change. Many Ukrainians compare recruiters with "human kidnappers."
Gen. Zaluzhny said in an essay in November that the recruitment process needed to be reviewed "to build up our reserves." But he and other officials did not offer a major alternative to large-scale mobilization.
Mr Zelensky said his army chiefs had asked him to mobilize 450,000 to 500,000 men. "It's a significant number," he said last month, adding that a plan must be put in place before he makes a decision.
Experts say this is the main goal of the mobilization bill, which does not specify exactly how much should be added. It would lower the draft age to 25 from 27, limit deferments for minor disabilities and limit the ability of draft evaders to get loans or buy real estate. It also gives local authorities more responsibility for conscription.
Viktor Kevlyuk, a retired Ukrainian colonel who led the mobilization in western Ukraine from 2014 to 2018, said the bill was "specifically aimed" at facilitating the conscription of hundreds of thousands.
"The state is taking a firm position on how quickly it can supply its defense forces with this number of personnel," Mr Kevlyuk said.
But many lawmakers, including those from Mr. Zelenskyi's party, have expressed concern about such measures targeting the disabled and draft evaders. They also say that relying on local governments could exacerbate the problem. Regional recruitment centers suffered from corruption, with officers taking bribes to allow men to evade conscription.
"In general, this made this bill unacceptable in its form," said Oleksiy Goncharenko, People's Deputy from the opposition party "European Solidarity".
After days of debate, lawmakers sent the bill back for revisions this month.
"I clearly understand that the task of the military is to achieve success at the front," Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk recently told Ukrainian media. "However, we need to work together to regulate important and sensitive processes like mobilization."
Defense Minister of Ukraine Rustem Umerov said that the government is already working on finalization. He expressed disappointment with the lawmakers' decision, saying the mobilization was "politicized and inhibited."
Mr. Honcharenko noted that a broader discussion is needed regarding Ukraine's military strategy. According to him, no one clearly explained why it is necessary to call up to half a million people now, which confused civilians.
Mr. Burkovsky, a political analyst, said the Ukrainian authorities had failed to "plan the pace of recruitment, training and replenishment" in the first year of the war, forcing them to rush through the conscription process without addressing the underlying problems they were causing in Ukrainian civil society.
The draft law, for example, leaves open the possibility of demobilization of troops after three years of service. But relatives of the men, who have fought since the start of the war, say that is too long and that they must be replaced now. In recent weeks, there has been a growing number of protests in Ukrainian cities calling for immediate demobilization, a rare manifestation of public criticism during the war.
Mr. Zelenskyi also emphasized the cost of mobilization for Ukraine's declining economy
The draft means fewer taxpayers cover the army's larger payroll. Mr. Zelenskyi said last month that mobilizing more than 450,000 people would cost 500 billion Ukrainian hryvnias, about $13 billion, at a time when continued Western financial aid remains in doubt.
"Where are we going to get the money?" - asked Mr. Zelensky.
