The law on demobilization has been developed, but is unlikely to be adopted: Fedir Venislavskyi
The military load on the Ukrainian army during a full-scale war has reached a critical limit — especially at the level of combat units, which without rotation hold the defense for months, and sometimes for years. Against the background of public demand for demobilization, fatigue in the troops and growing tension in communication between the army and society, the authorities are announcing alternative solutions. Among them are the new rotation mechanism and the draft law on demobilization, which were announced by People’s Deputy of Ukraine Fedir Venislavskyi, a member of the parliamentary committee on national security, defense and intelligence.
What the new approach entails
Fyodor Venislavskyi reported, that the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine has developed a rotation mechanism that provides rest for servicemen after 90 days of continuous combat operations. According to him, we are talking about several months of rest, which should be an alternative to dismissal from service or setting fixed terms.
He noted that such a mechanism is also mentioned in the address of the Minister of Defense. At the same time, Venislavsky emphasized that it is impossible to establish this system at the level of law. In his opinion, this should be regulated by subordinate legal acts — in particular, a directive, a decision of the Headquarters or an order of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. He explained that the law cannot take into account all the features of hostilities and allow to clearly determine the number of servicemen who can be released at a specific moment.
About the draft law on terms of military service
The deputy also reported that the draft law on terms of military service really exists. It provides for different options for release: after 12, 18 or 36 months of service, depending on the nature of participation in hostilities. However, according to him, now there is no real possibility to adopt this document. He referred to the current situation at the front and the position of the General Staff, according to which the adoption of the release law would immediately lead to a significant outflow of personnel and, accordingly, to critical consequences for defense capability.
“The law is really developed, it provides for various options for dismissal from military service after 36 months of continuous service, 12 or 18 months of service in a combat zone. However, there is a position of the General Staff, there is a real situation at the front, and in the conditions when Russia is trying to put pressure in various directions, the adoption of such a law will lead to the release of a very large number of people at once, which will lead to very little negative consequences. Therefore, at the moment, talk about the fact that we will receive this draft law and it will be voted on is too optimistic,” – emphasized Venislavskyi.
At this stage, according to him, the more realistic mechanism is internal regulation within the military administration, rather than changes to the law.
