Ukraine cracks down on draft dodgers with new police powers

The Ukrainian government once again announces actions aimed at holding men who avoid conscription accountable. In a communiqué, the government in Kyiv announced that under the latest law, such individuals would be pursued by the police. The changes aim to tighten conscription in Ukraine.

The war in Ukraine has been ongoing for over two and a half years. During this time, both sides have conducted several conscriptions, which have become increasingly problematic for Ukrainians. As early as February 24, 2022, a significant part of society was mobilized, while in Russia, it was a small percentage of full capacity.

The results did not take long to show. After just a few months, the Ukrainian government complained about declining combat capabilities due to the decreasing number of soldiers ready to fight. Efforts to strengthen conscription laws for those who avoided it the first time began in 2022.

As it turned out, there were quite a few of them, so one of the first loopholes was quickly patched. Despite this, many of those subject to conscription remained outside Ukraine or at an address different from the one indicated in the documentation. Consequently, the government in Kyiv quickly undertook work in this area as well.

Even after two and a half years of war, Ukraine is still facing the problem of people avoiding mobilization. As a result, a law has now been announced that will almost completely eliminate this possibility. The police will pursue those who fail to comply with this obligation.

Many people were registered at one address but lived at another. Thus, we could not deliver summonses to such conscripts because we did not know their locations. The changes have given us the ability to legally gather relevant data about the conscripts. Now we know where a person lives, how to contact them, and where they work,” noted Lt. Col. Andrii Moroz, head of the mobilization and defense sector, as quoted by Censor.NET.

This means that, regardless of the individuals themselves, services will obtain information about their current whereabouts.

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