Kyiv, Ukraine – After almost two years of military service on the front lines of the Russo-Ukrainian war, Alina's husband is “furious” at the new mobilization law.
Ukraine's parliament passed the law on Thursday after months of debate and around 4,300 amendments.
Alina, who requested anonymity, said her husband and brothers-in-arms were stunned by the lifting of the prison term. Under previous law, she was supposed to be demobilized after 36 months of service.
Without limits, and with last year's failed counterattack and months-long delay in Western military aid, they understand that their service may only end in disability or death.
“The government humiliated them and offended them,” Alina, who lives in Kyiv with her two children, told Al Jazeera.
“They're not forever. They want to see their kids grow up, they want to be home,” she said.
This demobilization clause was abolished at the request of Ukraine's top brass, who cited a serious military shortage on the front lines, particularly in eastern Ukraine.
“The enemy outnumbers us seven to 10 times,” Joint Forces Commander Yuri Sodor told lawmakers on Wednesday, urging them to pass the bill.
But President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has not announced a formal mobilization, fearing a backlash or protests and wanting to focus on the law.
The law was passed with 283 votes in the 450-member parliament, mainly because Zelensky's People's Service Party, which controls the Verkhovna Rada, supported it.
The law increases pay for frontline workers and death benefits for their families, but Zelensky's political opponents have slammed the removal of work restrictions.
“There are many things that make the law like a whip without any stimulus,” wrote Volodymyr Aliyev, a lawmaker from European Solidarity, a party led by former president Petro Poroshenko. “The government wrote this bill to treat defenders as resources, not heroes.”
A few hours after the law was adopted, parliament asked the government to draw up additional legislation regarding the demobilization and rotation of military personnel on the front lines.
The repeal of military service restrictions predictably infuriated veteran soldiers, especially those who began their military service in 2014. At the time, Russia was supporting pro-Russian separatists in southeastern Ukraine and helping the two separatists establish a “people's republic.”
“Knowingly and voluntarily, I will become a member of the most depraved category of citizens in my country,” psychologist-turned-soldier Artem Osipian wrote on Facebook.
“Who will be next? Do I always have to be a soldier? Was my life so insignificant? Someone else's life is more meaningful than mine and not worth the sacrifice. What is it?'' he asked rhetorically.
Young military personnel also find the scrapping completely baffling.
Shortly after Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Taras signed up for three years of military service.
“I thought it was like a job: you work for three years and then you quit,” the bespectacled 23-year-old with a tanned face and sparse stubble told Al Jazeera. Ta.
Like other military personnel on active duty, he must withhold his name and service details.
During the game against Russia, Taras said with a tight smile, “It seems like I will serve until victory.''
For military families, the uncertainty surrounding demobilization is discouraging and demoralizing.
“We don't need to fight a war to the death. We need to know when military service ends,” the wife of a soldier stationed in the eastern town of Kramatorsk told Al Jazeera.
Her husband joined the military in 2015, but turned to volunteer work after sustaining an injury that made it difficult for him to walk.
He returned to active duty in 2022 and remains on the front lines after spending several weeks in hospital with six bruises, vision and digestive problems.
“They're there until the last man standing. Literally the last man standing,” his wife said.
Uncertainty about military service restrictions also deters potential draftees.
Within hours of the full-scale invasion, which began in February 2022, volunteers flooded into recruitment offices, especially in the eastern and central regions, with some having to travel as far as western Ukraine to be drafted.
But the general enthusiasm subsided when news broke of heavy losses and dire conditions in the trenches and barracks, amidst corruption among officers and suppliers.
The Mobilization Act envisions the creation of an electronic registry to replace the outdated paper-based system that has created corruption.
In the past two years, police and investigators have reported the arrest of dozens of conscripted personnel.
Some of them hoarded millions of dollars in cash and bought expensive real estate in Ukraine and Europe.
All athletes who reach combat age must register within 60 days, either in person or through an electronic registry, and those who do not register are considered draft evaders.
Men must carry their registration documents with them at all times.
Some military personnel argue that mobilization should be carried out in parallel with enhanced training for conscripts.
“The enemy is strong, has sufficient resources and sufficient manpower – if you can call it that,” a soldier stationed in the southern Kherson region told Al Jazeera.
“We need people who are better trained and who know what they're doing and what they're signing up for,” he said.
Forced conscription is already a scourge across Ukraine.
In many rural areas, most men of fighting age are conscripted into the military, but in urban centers, patrolling by conscripts and police officers means that potential soldiers are forced to appear in public or take public transportation. I avoid using it.
Some men are encouraged to go to the conscription office just to reveal their personal information, but never come out in civilian clothes.
Tetyana Boshko, who works in a hospital cafeteria in northern Kyiv, told Al Jazeera: “Five men I know went to the conscription office and never came back,” because they were immediately sent to training bases. .