Conscription reform in Ukraine: new rules on call-up notices and terms of service
This was reported by TSN.ua, citing a comment by Iryna Friz, a Member of Parliament and representative of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security, Defence and Intelligence.
Mobilisation is ongoing in Ukraine, and parliament has not ruled out reforming the territorial recruitment centres.
One possible option is to split the functions of the recruitment centres. Some staff could handle military registration and mobilisation, whilst others could provide social support for veterans and the families of service personnel.
At the same time, the Verkhovna Rada emphasises that the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine has not yet submitted any clearly formulated legislative proposals regarding the reform of the TCCs.
“The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine has not presented any specific legislative changes regarding the reform of the TCCs to the committee,” said Iryna Friz.
According to her, simply renaming the territorial recruitment centres as “recruitment offices”, “reserve offices” or “support offices” will not be enough.
“I am advocating not so much for a high-profile ‘renaming’ as for a genuine, comprehensive reform. If the TCCs are simply called offices but retain the same practices, the chaos in communication, the mistrust and the logic of force – that is not reform, but a travesty,” the MP stated.
Who should deliver the summonses
Friz noted that any new mobilisation rules must address several key issues.
In particular, it must be clearly defined who exactly is responsible for notifying citizens, on what legal basis this takes place, and how the procedure for serving summonses is recorded.
Also, she said, it is necessary to determine how human rights are protected during the notification process and who is responsible for any potential abuse of power.
“It cannot be the case that the military needs people, yet the system, through its methods, alienates society from the army,” said the representative of the parliamentary committee.
Terms of service: what might change
The issue of service terms is being discussed separately in the Verkhovna Rada.
According to Friz, as things stand, there are no clear terms of service in Ukraine, and this issue may remain unresolved for some time.
She noted that the General Staff has been and remains opposed to fixed terms of service. At the same time, there is a statement by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy regarding a new approach to this issue.
“The military’s logic regarding indefinite service as the norm has a negative impact on mobilisation, resilience and defence capability. The issue of service terms is not about populism or accounting; it is a matter of combat readiness,” Friz stated.
She also commented on reports of possible fixed terms of service for contract soldiers.
According to the MP, any term – 10 months, 14 months or 2 years – must be underpinned by legislation, the budget, personnel rotation and political accountability.
What else has been proposed regarding mobilisation
It was previously reported that Valerii Zaluzhnyi proposed three types of mobilisation.
In his view, Ukraine needs “smart” mobilisation that takes technical progress into account. Without this, under the current conditions of war, he described demobilisation as populism.
As reported by ThePublic, Ukraine is preparing a large-scale army reform, which includes new contracts with guaranteed demobilisation, pay rises for military personnel and reform of the Territorial Defence Forces. For combat personnel, contracts of 10–14 months and a new “10/20/40” bonus system may be introduced, under which servicemen will receive up to 400,000 hryvnias per month. The Ministry of Defence also plans to transform the Territorial Recruitment Centres into “Reserve+ Offices” with separate mobilisation and social functions.
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