No changes regarding mobilization of women are currently being considered in Rada, - servant of people Chernev
The Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Defense, and Intelligence is not currently considering any changes regarding the mobilization of women, deferrals for parents with multiple children, or the introduction of a new basis for deferrals for parents whose wives are abroad.
Yehor Chernev, a member of parliament from the "Servant of the People" faction and deputy chair of the committee, made this statement in a comment to Censor.NET.
Details
"Moreover, such initiatives should generally come from the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff, which currently have the most information. Neither the Ministry of Defense nor the General Staff has submitted any such proposals to the Verkhovna Rada regarding changes to the mobilization law.
When Mykhailo Fedorov was Minister of Defense, no such initiatives arose either. There was a different vision for mobilization reform, but then-Minister Fedorov decided to proceed primarily through Cabinet of Ministers resolutions in order to speed up the process. Although we pointed out that certain issues cannot be resolved by a resolution—these are exclusively legislative changes. There were also no specific changes to the legislation itself or proposals for such changes," he noted.
Speaking about the online petition calling for the abolition of the right to defer mobilization and discharge from service for men with three or more children under the age of 18—which garnered the required number of votes and was addressed to the government—the politician noted that the Cabinet of Ministers must review it and provide a response.
"If government officials decide that certain legislative changes are needed, they have the right to introduce a corresponding bill, since they are also a source of legislative initiative. But, as far as I know, there is currently no official position on this issue," Chernev emphasized.
Responding to a question about why there is now a public debate regarding the mobilization of women and deferments for parents with many children, the MP explained:
"I think this is due to a combination of factors. Of course, many people—primarily military personnel who have been serving in the Armed Forces or the Defense Forces since 2022—are naturally exhausted. Every time we raised the issue of demobilization and proposed amendments to the mobilization law, we ran into the same obstacle: The General Staff reported that, as of today, there are not enough mobilized personnel to replenish the Armed Forces’ reserves, so no one can be demobilized. Although we proposed a partial demobilization with various conditions and so on, no such decision was made. When we talk about any changes to mobilization, everything has to be calculated: how many people, for example, have three or more children? To what extent would their inclusion affect mobilization overall? Would this be enough to demobilize the same number of people? It seems to me that this is precisely the issue right now."
According to him, the Committee will consider amendments to the mobilization law if such proposals are submitted by the Ministry of Defense or the Cabinet of Ministers.
"But I would not pay attention to certain initiatives from some of my colleagues, because they seem more like populism than a systematic approach. That’s because today we need to have as much information as possible regarding the quantitative and qualitative composition of the Defense Forces in order to make decisions regarding changes to the mobilization process," Chernev added.
Background
- A petition was previously posted on the Cabinet of Ministers’ website proposing the introduction of mandatory military service for able-bodied women who do not have children. The author of the petition believes that this would ensure a more equitable distribution of responsibilities for defending the country during wartime.
Mazurashu, a member of parliament from the "Servant of the People" party, has registered a bill proposing to expand the list of grounds for deferment from mobilization.
The lawmaker proposes that one parent be eligible for a deferment if the other parent resides permanently outside Ukraine or is abroad for at least 90 days during the year.
