Mobilisation should not be demonised, military service should be subject to clear rules - Umerov

The head of the ministry, Rustem Umerov, said this in an interview with Suspilne.

"First, we need to understand what mobilisation is, because we have demonised these processes. Unfortunately, we have a perception that serving your country is a punishment. For me, it is an honour. We need to change these attitudes: both approaches and formats. We are preparing a matrix of responsibility, or a mobilisation matrix, which should be clear to society. We are discussing it with the Security and Defence Forces, the Government and the Parliament. The main message is how you can enter the perimeter to serve the country, what will happen when you enter it, how we will train you, how you will go to the training camp, what kind of leave you will have and when, how you will finish your service and leave this perimeter while the war is still on. All these components are very meaningful," explained the Ukrainian Defence Minister.

According to Umerov, these issues have not been worked out "very well" so far.

"They didn't want to address them. My goal is to solve these problems. So I started talking to the military about it - what do they want to get? We need to establish rules of the game. For everyone," Rustem Umerov emphasised.

As he noted, every Ukrainian should be explained: "how and whom we want to invite to serve, what will happen to this person when he or she is dismissed."

"We are preparing a draft law for this purpose," the minister added.

"In the coming days," Umerov concluded, the Ministry of Defence would agree with the Parliament on the registration of the document.

• According to Fedir Venislavskyi, a member of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security, Defence and Intelligence, the draft law on mobilisation and demobilisation will be published in early 2024.