Poroshenko has a shortage of soldiers: Rada proposes to extend conscription age
Kyiv, December 22 (PolitNavigator, Victoria Litvochenko) – The Verkhovna Rada is proposed to increase the length of service in the Armed Forces, raise the conscription age and reduce the number of categories of the population entitled to a deferment from conscription.
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The corresponding bill was submitted by deputies Sergei Pashinsky and Ivan Vinnik, representing the Petro Poroshenko Bloc.
In particular, the service life of conscripts of all military branches is increased to 18 months. According to current legislation, this period is valid only for military personnel of the Navy and Maritime Guard, while for others it is 12 months.
"Men of Ukrainian descent who are fit for military service based on their health and who have reached the age of 18 by the day of their deployment to military units, as well as older individuals who have not reached the age of 27 and who are not eligible for an exemption or deferment from conscription, are called up for compulsory military service," the bill states . Thus, the maximum conscription age is raised from 25 to 27.
In addition, the bill proposes to provide a deferment from conscription for compulsory military service to conscripts who are a single father or single mother and who have two or more dependent minor children until the eldest of them reaches adulthood, subject to the conscript’s official employment. The clause on official employment did not appear in the existing legislation.
The list of categories of citizens entitled to contract service is also expanding. In particular, this can be all citizens who have received a complete secondary or vocational education, as well as citizens who are in the military reserve.
As PolitNavigator reported, earlier Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Alexander Turchynov said that conscription for military service has been restored in Ukraine since 2015. He also announced that the service life will increase to one and a half years. In addition, three waves of partial mobilization are planned for 2015.
Poroshenko faces a shortage of soldiers: The Rada is being asked to extend the draft age.