The mobilization for the brothers and sisters of the victims was canceled: Zelensky signed the law
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a law that restores the deferment of mobilization for brothers and sisters of non-native Ukrainians who died or went missing during hostilities. Previously, this norm was removed from the current legislation.
It is about the project №11391, which restores the right to a deferment for conscripts whose close relatives, including a “natural (consanguineous or non-consanguineous) brother or sister”, were killed or disappeared while participating in hostilities during martial law.
Until April 2024, Article 23 of the Law on Mobilization provided that conscripts who lost close relatives – husband, wife, son, daughter, father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, or biological (consanguineous or non-consanguineous) brother or sister – are not subject to mobilization However, after the changes were made, the word “unborn” was removed, which created an ambiguous situation for the families of the victims.
This meant that in some cases where there were two brothers from different parents in a family, both could be mobilized, while for full brothers one was eligible for deferment. The families of the victims actively advocated for the return of the previous wording, which would have ensured equal rights to deferment for all brothers and sisters, regardless of whether they are consanguineous.
On August 21, the Verkhovna Rada adopted this law, which was supported by 310 people’s deputies. This decision was a response to numerous appeals by the families of the victims, who called for justice to be restored.
According to a survey conducted by the National Democratic Institute in May 2024, 77% of Ukrainians reported the loss of friends due to the war, and 22% of respondents reported the loss of a family member.
