Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed a law that will lower the country's minimum conscription age from 27 to 25, potentially boosting the number of men available to fight Russia's invasion.
It remains unclear how many men will be affected by the move.
Zelenskyy Lowers Army Conscription Age
The Ukrainian Parliament approved the bill in May 2023, but Zelensky did not sign it into effect until Tuesday.
After the law was passed in 2023, the Parliament released a statement stating that it was "inappropriate" and that martial law prevented many citizens eligible for military service from being called up despite the current need.
Martial law is currently in effect in Ukraine, and calling men to battle consists of a two-stage process. Men are first drafted into the armed forces, and after enlisting in the military, they can later be called up by the government to fight.
The law that Zelenskyy signed on Tuesday lowers the age at which they can be drafted to 25 but leaves the mobilization age at 27. However, the Ukrainian Parliament is also considering a bill reducing the mobilization age to 25.
Furthermore, martial law bans the majority of men between the ages of 18 and 60 from leaving Ukraine unless they are deemed unsuitable for military duty due to health issues or have an exemption.
This move was made as the Russian invasion entered its third year, and Ukraine struggled to raise more troops for its armed forces.
According to a report released earlier this week by the UK's defense intelligence agency, Russia has much more soldiers and ammunition on the eastern front than Ukraine. It also stated that Russia could replenish its forces by 30,000 troops a month.
Raising the draft age has been a controversial issue in Ukraine. Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the former commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army, claimed that the armed forces required an additional 500,000 soldiers at the start of 2024.
In a CNN opinion piece from February, he voiced his frustration at the inability of state institutions in Ukraine to boost the manpower levels of their armed forces without using undesirable efforts.
Zelenskyy fired Zaluzhnyi in February 2024 because of a disagreement about the draft age.
"If there are enough arguments to mobilize 25-year-olds and this is really something we need to do, I will agree with it," Zelensky told reporters in a December press conference.
On Tuesday, UN human rights chief Volker Türk demanded that the country cease its hostilities and occupation for Ukraine to start healing the deep wounds and painful divisions brought on by Russia's invasion.
In a video statement to the UN Human Rights Council, High Commissioner Türk expressed alarm that the world has grown numb to this crisis and said that more than two years after the invasion started, harrowing stories of human suffering continue to unfold in the country every day.
The UN rights head reminded that over the past two years of immense suffering, bloodshed, loss, and grief, more than 10,500 civilians have died and more than 20,000 have been injured, noting that actual figures are likely to be "significantly higher."
