MOSCOW, March 5. /TASS/. Ukraine’s army is having serious problems in the zone of combat operations, stemming to a large extent from the inability of the Verkhovna Rada (unicameral parliament) to pass a law on new mobilization rules, a Ukrainian lawmaker said.

"The country (Ukraine - TASS) right now needs a normal law on mobilization. <…> We have very big problems on the frontline," Rada member Alexey Goncharenko (included in Russia’s list of terrorists and extremists) wrote on his Telegram channel.

A general mobilization campaign was announced in Ukraine in February 2022 and has been extended several times since. The authorities in Kiev are taking all possible measures to prevent draft dodging. Thus, draft-age men are banned from leaving the country. Draft orders are being handed out to men seeking public services at government offices, in the streets and in other public places. Even those unfit for military service due to health problems are being drafted. According to the Ukrainian media, many men now prefer not to leave their homes out of fear of being forcibly dragooned into the army and sent to the combat zone.

The mobilization campaign has already provoked numerous scandals and widened gaps in society. While recruiters are hunting for fresh soldiers and have used force against those unwilling to be recruited, some lawmakers and government officials are dodging mobilization themselves and surreptitiously sending their draft-age sons abroad. Despite this, Ukraine’s authorities have been trying to intensify mobilization since late 2023. On February 7, the Verkhovna Rada passed in the first reading a bill that toughens mobilization rules. In particular, the bill envisages abridging the rights of draft dodgers in court procedures, introducing electronic draft orders, and authorizing the police to detain violators and hand them over to military recruitment offices.