Parliament estimates number of unregistered persons subject to military service in millions

Parliament is proposing to focus on identifying persons subject to military service who have not yet registered for military service. Oleksandr Fediienko, a member of parliament from the "Servant of the People" party and a member of the Committee on National Security, Defence and Intelligence, estimates the number of such citizens in the millions, although he does not provide specific statistical data.

Search for unregistered persons subject to military service

Fediienko spoke about the relevant initiatives in a comment. According to him, the relevant committee recommends first improving mechanisms for identifying individuals who have not registered for military service and preparing the necessary legislative amendments. The state must find a way to identify such citizens.

Reform of sanctions for unauthorized absence from unit

The MP considers reviewing liability for unauthorized absence from a military unit (AWOL) as a separate area of work. These issues also fall within the competence of the Committee on Law Enforcement Activities. Fediienko is convinced that before strengthening punishments, it is necessary to analyze existing criminal proceedings.

According to him, the number of opened cases regarding AWOL exceeds the number of servicemen who have actually abandoned their posts. Therefore, an audit must first be conducted, relevant procedures streamlined, and only then sanctions reviewed.

Exemption problem in military administrations

The parliamentarian named the practice of exempting employees from mobilization by certain military administrations as another problematic area. In particular, attention was drawn to the Luhansk and Donetsk administrations. Fediienko noted that the staff numbers of these institutions are growing, but the need to exempt specific employees from mobilization remains unclear.

The MP believes that the authorities must make a relevant political decision and carefully analyze the staffing needs of such institutions.

Political risks of reforms

At the same time, the MP acknowledged that reviewing these issues, as well as strengthening measures against violators of mobilization legislation, could cause significant public dissatisfaction. In his opinion, the Prime Minister and the government are aware of the possible negative reaction, so adopting such decisions will be politically difficult.

Recall that Ukrainians who were previously not on military registration may find that the "Reserve+" application does not contain information about them. Although the legislation provides for the automatic entry of data for certain categories of citizens, sometimes it is necessary to personally apply to the territorial recruitment centre to process documents. For men aged 25 and older, such a visit may result in a referral to a medical commission and subsequent mobilization.