MOSCOW, May 17. /TASS/. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has signed the bill which allows the military mobilization of convicts.

"[It] has been returned with the president’s signature," reads the card of the document, which is posted on the website of Verkhovna Rada (parliament). By law, it will go into effect the day after publication.

According to the document, all convicts, except those guilty of crimes infringing on national security, murderers, rapists, pedophiles and drivers causing deadly car accidents under the influence of alcohol or drugs, will be subject to mobilization. The bill spells out a procedure where convicts must give their consent to be drafted, and also provides for their medical examination. Unit commanders will also need to give their consent to accept such recruits.

The Ukrainian Justice Ministry has long been calling for recruiting convicts. Justice Minister Denis Malyuska previously said that thousands of convicts were willing to join the Ukrainian army, adding that at least 50,000 people with criminal records could be called up. However, he said on May 10 that up to 20,000 convicts and people with criminal records might be recruited into the army.

The Ukrainian online newspaper Strana reported citing a source in the national penitentiary system that Ukraine’s armed forces would be able to draft no more than 10,000 to 15,000 convicts, and most of them will have to be forced to go to the army. The source added that about 28,000 convicts were currently serving their sentences. Of those, women, people unfit for military service due to health conditions, age and their criminal offenses should be exempted.