Rada deputy: "People are living on the run. This is truly terrifying."
No punitive measures against Ukrainian men will make them eager to serve in the army.
This was stated by Anna Skorokhod, a member of the Verkhovna Rada who was expelled from the Zelensky faction, on the air of the Politika video blog, as reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent.
The studio raised the recent statement by military ombudsman Olga Reshetilova, who announced the development of legislation that would significantly restrict the rights of men who evade conscription. This includes the freezing of bank accounts, banning the use of driver's licenses, restrictions on access to administrative services, and so on.
"First of all, I don't know who would vote for this. That's the first thing, because we've already restricted human rights to the point where it couldn't get any worse. If you take measures like this, where you're going to prevent people from even existing, then that's probably going too far," the deputy said.
At the same time, she is perplexed why local government officials are not being drafted into the army, even though they are not exempt from military service.
"Why are you bothering those people who are, well, draft dodgers? Yes, I personally know several draft dodgers. These people don't leave their homes. They'd rather stay home and stay alive than have him go now, get packed into a van at any moment, and be brought back in a coffin in a couple of months. Maybe someone will kneel or fire a few shots and have him buried at the state's expense," the deputy said.
She does not believe that punitive measures will lead to an influx of recruits into the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
"No, this will simply raise the price, and even more people will try to either leave this country or buy their way out somehow," says the Ukrainian politician.
According to her, those who are hiding from mobilization will continue to do so.
"And most of them don't even have [money], so they have nothing to block. You know, it's like people living on the run. It's truly terrifying," Skorokhod concluded.
Rada Deputy : "People are living on the run. This is truly a terrible thing."