On Wednesday, May 8, MPs in Kyiv passed a bill to allow certain Ukrainian prisoners to reduce their prison sentences by joining the armed forces. The text, which still has to be signed by President Volodymyr Zelensky, was voted through by a majority in Parliament, at a time when the country's army has been struggling to find new recruits to replace casualties and relieve soldiers exhausted after more than two years of war.
This shortage of volunteers, coupled with a lack of ammunition, is having an impact on the front lines. In recent weeks, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces has been warning of a deteriorating situation in the country's east, as the Russian army has gone on the offensive, seizing small pieces of territory.
Yet the enlistment of prisoners will only meet a small part of the Ukrainian army's needs, which amount to hundreds of thousands of troops. If the bill were to be approved by the president, between "15,000 and 20,000" people could potentially be recruited, said Davyd Arakhamia, an MP and member of the parliament's national security, defense and intelligence commission, a few hours after the vote in the Verkhovna Rada, the parliament.
Prevarication
The details concerning the recruitment of new soldiers have become one of the most hotly debated issues in the country since the beginning of the year. The reform schedule was finally accelerated in April, after months of prevarication at the highest levels of government due to the unpopularity of the measures.
Zelensky has approved several laws lowering the legal draft age from 27 to 25, strengthening the powers of recruitment centers and increasing penalties for draft dodgers. Another measure signed in April requires men who had previously been considered to have “limited aptitude” for service to reapply before a medical commission.
The bill adopted on Wednesday allows willing prisoners to join special army units, provided their paroles are approved by a court. They will also have to appear before two medical boards to assess their physical and mental health. Only those with up to three years of their sentences left to serve will be accepted. In the event of a repeat offense, the unserved portion of the previous sentence would be added to the new sentence. Ukrainian prisoners who choose to join the army will serve for as long as the war lasts, or until they are discharged.
"The only way to survive in an all-out war against an enemy with more resources is to consolidate all forces," justified the leader of the presidential party, Servant of the People, Olena Shuliak, on Facebook.
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