Ukraine's parliament passed a controversial law on Thursday that would regulate how the country calls up new soldiers at a time when it needs to replenish depleted forces that are increasingly struggling to repel a Russian advance.
The law was passed as Russia's campaign to destroy Ukraine's energy infrastructure escalated in recent weeks. Overnight missile and drone strikes completely destroyed the Trypilska thermal power plant, the capital region's largest power generation facility, officials said.
Two years after a full-scale Russian invasion captured nearly a quarter of the country, the stakes for Kyiv could not be raised. After a string of victories in the first year of the war, fortunes turned for the Ukrainian military, which was dug in, outgunned and outnumbered.
The country needs more troops — and they need more ammunition — at a time when doubts about Western aid supplies are growing.
The disarmament law was first drafted after Ukraine's summer counteroffensive last year failed to gain significant ground — and officials realized the country was in for a protracted struggle.
In December, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine's military wanted to mobilize 500,000 more soldiers. Army chief Oleksandr Sirsky revised that figure because soldiers could be turned from the rear. But the authorities have not said how much is needed.
The law — watered down from its original form — makes it easier to identify every draft-eligible person in the country, where many have avoided conscription by avoiding contact with authorities.
Under the law, men between the ages of 18 and 60 must carry military registration documents and present them when asked, said Oksana Zabolotna, an analyst at the watchdog group Center for United Action. Also, any person who applies for state service at a consulate abroad is registered for military service.
However, it is unclear how the measure would ensure that all draft-eligible men were registered. In that way, he said, it “does not fulfill the main declared objective”.
The law provides incentives for soldiers, such as cash bonuses or money to buy a house or car – something Ukraine cannot afford, Mr. Zabolotna said.
It's unclear how much coercion the law could lead to — and it's unclear whether Ukraine, with its ongoing ammunition shortages, has the capacity to mobilize large numbers of new soldiers without a fresh injection of Western aid.
In total, 1 million Ukrainians are in uniform, including about 300,000 serving on the front lines.
Lawmakers dragged their feet for months over the mobilization law, and it is expected to be unpopular. It comes a week after Ukraine lowered the draft-eligible age for men from 27 to 25.
The law will take effect a month after Mr Zelensky signs it – and it is unclear when he will. It took him months to sign the law lowering the conscription age.
Earlier this month, Volodymyr Fesenko, an analyst at the Center for Applied Political Studies “Penta,” said the law was crucial to Ukraine's ability to continue its fight against Russia, even if it was painful for Ukrainian society.
“Most people don't want their loved ones to go to the front, but at the same time they want Ukraine to win,” he said.
Thursday's vote would turn over troops who served in the 36-month war after the House Defense Committee removed a key provision from the bill. Lawmaker Oleksiy Honcharenko said in a Telegram post that he was shocked by the move.
The committee instructed the Defense Ministry to draft a demobilization bill within several months, ministry spokesman Dmytro Lazutkin said, according to news reports.
After Russia invades in February 2022, weary soldiers on the front lines will have no way to turn around for rest. But considering the scale and intensity of the war, devising a relaxation system would prove difficult.
Due to injury, the soldier left the frontline Associated Press His comrades need some respite.
“Of course, I want the boys to be released after at least 36 months. No more ideas, I just want the boys to get some rest,” said the soldier, who gave his name only as Konstantin for security reasons.
Ukraine already suffers from a shortage of trained soldiers capable of combat, and demobilizing front-line soldiers deprives Ukrainian forces of their most capable fighters.
Meanwhile, private energy operator DTEK described it as one of the most powerful attacks this year, with missiles and drones hitting infrastructure and power facilities in several areas overnight.
Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko told reporters that it was a “large-scale, overwhelming, missile attack that badly affected our energy sector.”
The Trypilska plant, which was the largest energy supplier to Kyiv, Cherkasy and Zhytomyr regions, was completely knocked out and unable to supply electricity.
At least 10 strikes damaged energy infrastructure in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city. More than 200,000 people are without power in the region and Russia is “trying to destroy Kharkiv's infrastructure and leave the city in darkness,” said Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.
Fuel facilities were also damaged in the Zaporizhia and Lviv regions.
Ukraine's leaders have pleaded for more air defense systems – aid has been slow to arrive.
Four people were killed and five wounded in Thursday's attack on the city of Mykolaiv, regional governor Vitaly Kim said. In the Odesa region, four people were killed and 14 wounded in a Russian missile attack on Wednesday evening, Governor Oleh Kiper said.