Volodymyr Zelensky Faces Ukraine Military Draft Rebellion

After the start of Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion, Zelensky announced a general mobilization in which military reservists between the ages of 18 and 60 were eligible for conscription. Men between those ages were banned from leaving Ukraine without a special dispensation, such as for medical reasons.

But Zelensky said last week changes to mobilization were needed to continue the fight against Russia, having long highlighted corrupt practices associated with recruiting offices, including bribe-taking to secure medical exemptions.

Potentially complicating his push for more troops is the petition launched in September that complained that existing laws contained “legislative gaps that lead to unequal conditions for mobilization” which reached the 25,000-signature threshold for presidential consideration. As of Monday, it had more than 26,000 signatures.

It said, according to a translation of the Ukrainian, that deputies “conscripted and booked for the period of mobilization and martial law by state authorities, other state bodies, and local self-government bodies are not subject to conscription for military service during mobilization.”

Amid reports of troop shortages to allow rotation on the front line, “the mobilization of people’s deputies and civil servants at various levels will help level the conditions for all citizens and contribute to the victory over the terrorist state”, it added, according to a translation.

The petition was created by Oleksandr Dubinsky, a former lawmaker with Zelensky’s Servant of the People party, from which he was expelled in 2021.

In August he was investigated over claims he traveled abroad on vacation during wartime. In November, he was arrested on suspicion of treason for “subversive activities” for Russia “when they aligned with efforts” by Rudy Giuliani to dig up compromising material about Joe Biden. He denies the charges.

Newsweek has contacted the Ukrainian presidency for comment.

The petition comes as Ukraine deals with a large Russian military that is deploying waves of servicemen in front-line battles. Last week, Putin signed a decree ordering an increase of 170,000 in the Russian armed forces.

Meanwhile, a Ukrainian soldier who had spent weeks on the Russian-occupied side of the Dnieper River, where Kyiv’s troops have gained a foothold, told the BBC about how his comrades felt abandoned by Ukraine’s military commanders.

The unnamed soldier said that troops had to pay for their own kit and that “the real situation is being hushed up, so no-one will change anything,” as companies were deployed rather than the brigades that were supposed to be posted. “We just don’t have enough men.”

“No-one knows the goals. Many believe that the command simply abandoned us,” he said. “The guys believe that our presence had more political than military significance.”

He said everyone who wanted to volunteer “came a long time ago” and that “it’s too hard now to tempt people with money.”

“Now we’re getting those who didn’t manage to escape the draft,” he added.