Ukraine's parliament publishes new version of controversial mobilization bill

By Anadolu Staff

MOSCOW (AA) - Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers submitted a new draft law on mobilization to the parliament on Tuesday.

The new version of the bill, published on the website of Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, retains a provision on lowering the draft age from 27 to 25 as well as on the introduction of universal military training from 2025.

It also contains a possibility for limiting the rights of citizens through court proceedings.

The military enlistment office may apply to the court to temporarily restrict a recruit's right to leave the country and drive a vehicle and seize his bank accounts and valuables stored in banks.

The controversial bill, presented to parliament in December, proposed lowering the draft age from 27 to 25, limiting deferrals for men with slight disabilities and sending out notifications about the necessity to report to the military in electronic form.

In an end-of-year press conference in December, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the military proposed to mobilize an additional 450,000 to 500,000 people.

Ukraine has been at war with Russia since February 2022.