Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said that the department does not plan to lower the mobilization age below 25. Instead, the Defense Ministry is focusing efforts on developing contract service for citizens aged 18–24 who have already shown high combat readiness at the front.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said that the department does not plan to lower the mobilization age below 25. Instead, the Defense Ministry is focusing efforts on developing contract service for citizens aged 18–24 who have already shown high combat readiness at the front.
The head of the defense department told Babel journalists about this. According to Umerov, the young contract soldiers demonstrated «confident actions in combat,» and their training, fortitude, and professionalism confirmed the effectiveness of this human resource.
The Ministry of Defense emphasizes that the contract service for young people will have an improved motivational package. Launched in February 2024, the program provides for a one-year contract with a payment of up to 1 million UAH: 200 thousand immediately after signing, the rest — during the service. Volunteers are guaranteed demobilization after the end of the term, protection from mobilization for the next 12 months, as well as a number of benefits, from free education to free medical care, travel and discounts on utilities.
Despite pressure from Western partners, Ukraine refuses to revise the mobilization threshold. US representatives, including Jake Sullivan, Anthony Blinken, and Mike Waltz, have repeatedly called for lowering the mobilization age to 18. But the President’s Office says that discussing such decisions is inappropriate while international aid is delayed.
During the presentation of the Resilience Plan, President Volodymyr Zelensky emphasized that Ukraine does not plan to change the age threshold for mobilization. Instead, it is focusing on contracts, voluntariness, and supporting new approaches to recruiting troops.
We previously wrote about how the head of the Servant of the People faction, Davyd Arakhamia, the head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Oleksandr Zavitnevych, members of this committee, Roman Kostenko, Oleksandr Fedienko, and others, introduced a bill that would allow temporary employment and registration of reservations for men who have violated mobilization legislation.
