Draft law on demobilization will be finalized in 8 months - Ukraine's MoD

Defense Ministry spokesman Dmytro Lazutkin said this during the telethon.

The Defense Ministry and the General Staff will be in charge of the development.

"The General Staff obviously has a complete picture of the current situation and prospects. And again, we have to start from all scenarios, including not very optimistic ones. We are weighing up all the points to avoid any breakthroughs or weakening of Ukraine's defense," Lazutkin said.

According to him, the new document should take into account many factors to avoid a negative impact on the country's defense capabilities.

Answering a clarifying question about the eight months allotted for the development of the new draft law, the Defense Ministry spokesman said: "This is in the conclusion of the parliamentary committee - up to eight months.”

What is known about mobilization in Ukraine

On December 19, Zelenskyy said at a press conference on the results of 2023 that the General Staff had asked for the mobilization of an additional 450,000-500,000 Ukrainians.

On December 25, 2023, the Cabinet of Ministers submitted a bill to the Ukrainian parliament to improve the mobilization procedure.

On January 8, the Ukrainian Parliamentary Committee on Anti-Corruption Policy recognized the government's draft law on mobilization as containing corruption risks.

On January 11, the draft law on mobilization was returned to the government for revision without being considered by the parliament.

Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets claims that some provisions of the draft law on mobilization violate the Constitution, Ukraine's international obligations and people's rights. 

In late January, the government submitted an updated draft law on mobilization to the Ukrainian parliament. However, at a meeting on February 5, the Ukrainian Parliamentary Committee on Anti-Corruption Policy again recognized the document as containing corruption risks.

At a meeting on February 6, the Ukrainian parliament supported the extension of martial law and general mobilization for another 90 days - until May 13, 2024.

On February 7, the parliament supported in the first reading the government's draft law No.10449 on strengthening mobilization.

On April 10, it was reported that the Verkhovna Rada Defense Committee had excluded the issue of demobilization from the draft law on mobilization. The government is to draft a separate bill on demobilization.