Ukraine passes controversial law to conscript more soldiers

Ukraine’s parliament yesterday passed a controversial law that will govern how the country calls up new soldiers – at a time when it needs to replenish depleted forces who are increasingly struggling to fend off Russia’s brutal onslaught.

The law was passed against a backdrop of an escalating Russian campaign that has devastated Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in recent weeks.

Overnight missile and drone attacks by Russia completely destroyed the Trypilska thermal power plant, the largest power-generating facility in the capital region.

Two years after Moscow’s full-scale invasion captured nearly a quarter of the country, the stakes could not be higher for Kyiv. After a string of victories in the first year of the war, fortunes have turned for the Ukrainian military, which is dug in, outgunned and outnumbered.

The country desperately needs more troops – and ammunition – at a time when doubts about the supply of Western aid are increasing.

The mobilisation law was first envisioned after Ukraine’s summer counteroffensive failed to gain significant ground last year – and authorities realised the country was in for a longer fight.

In December, Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, said the military wanted to mobilise up to 500,000 more troops. Army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi has since revised that figure down because soldiers can be rotated from the rear. But officials haven’t said how many are needed.

The law – which was watered down from its original form – will make it easier to identify every draft-eligible man in the country. Many are said to have have dodged conscription by avoiding contact with authorities.

Under the law, men aged 18 to 60 will be required to carry documents showing they have registered with the military and present them when asked, according to Oksana Zabolotna, an analyst for the watchdog group Centre for United Actions. Also, any man who applies for state service at a consulate abroad will be registered for military service.

However, it remains unclear how the measure will ensure all draft-eligible men are registered. In that way, it “does not fulfil the main declared goal”, she said.

The law also provides incentives to soldiers, such as cash bonuses or money toward buying a house or car – perks Ms Zabolotna said Ukraine can not afford.

It’s not clear how many conscripts the law might lead to – and it’s also unclear that Ukraine, with its ongoing ammunition shortages, has the ability to arm large numbers of new soldiers without a fresh injection of Western aid.

In total, one million Ukrainians are in uniform, including about 300,000 serving on the front lines.

Lawmakers dragged their feet for months over the mobilisation law, which is expected to be unpopular. It comes about a week after Ukraine lowered the draft-eligible age for men from 27 to 25.

The law will become effective a month after Mr Zelensky signs it – and it was not clear when he would. It took him months to sign the law reducing conscription age.

Earlier this month, Volodymyr Fesenko, an analyst at the Centre for Applied Political Studies, said the law is crucial for Ukraine’s ability to keep up the fight against Russia, even though it is painful for Ukrainian society.

“A large part of the people do not want their loved ones to go to the front, but at the same time they want Ukraine to win,” he said.

Yesterday’s vote came after the parliamentary defence committee removed a key provision from the bill that would rotate out troops who served 36 months of combat. Lawmaker Oleksii Honcharenko said in a Telegram post that he was shocked by the move.

The committee instructed Kyiv’s defence ministry to draft a bill on demobilisation within several months, news reports cited ministry spokesperson Dmytro Lazutkin as saying.

Exhausted soldiers, on the front lines since Russia invaded in February 2022, have no means of rotating out for rest. But considering the scale and intensity of the war, devising a system of rest will prove difficult.

A soldier taken off the front lines because of injury said his comrades badly need respite.

“Of course, I want the boys to be released, at least after 36 months. There are no more thoughts, I want the boys to have some rest,” said the soldier, who gave his name only as Kostyantyn for security reasons.

Ukraine already suffers from a lack of trained soldiers capable of fighting. Demobilising soldiers on the front lines now would deprive Ukrainian forces of their most capable fighters.

Meanwhile, Russia carried out a wave of missile and drone strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure yesterday, damaging substations and power facilities in five regions and causing emergency power cuts for at least 200,000 people.

Russia has escalated its long-range air-strike campaign on Ukrainian energy infrastructure in recent weeks, destroying more of a system already under strain from previous Russian bombardments during the war.

“We need air defence and other defence support, not eye-closing and long discussions,” Mr Zelensky said, appealing for more air defence supplies from Western allies.

Ukrainian air defences took down 18 of the incoming missiles and 39 drones, the air force commander said.

The Ukrenergo grid operator’s substations and power generating facilities sustained damage in the regions of Odesa, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Lviv and Kyiv.

At least 10 missiles struck the city of Kharkiv, just 30km from the Russian border. The region, which has been pounded by missiles and shelling and already has long, rolling blackouts in place, was forced to cut electricity to 200,000 people.

DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private electricity company, said Russia attacked two of its power stations, inflicting further serious damage. DTEK was hit last month by Russia’s worst attacks since the 2022 invasion and around 80pc of available capacity was destroyed.

Moscow has increased its use of guided air-dropped bombs in frontline areas in recent months.

It was reported yesterday that the US will sell Ukraine up to $138m worth of equipment to maintain and upgrade its HAWK air defence systems to help defend against Russian drone and cruise missile attacks.

The US began shipping HAWK interceptor missiles to Ukraine in 2022 as an upgrade to the shoulder-launched Stinger air defence missile systems – a smaller, shorter-range system.

‘People do not want their loved ones to go to the front – but at the same time they want Kyiv to win’