Zelensky agreed to demobilize some soldiers
2 January 23:47
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed Law No. 11531 on the demobilization of those soldiers whose half-siblings were killed or went missing during the fighting, Komersant ukrainskyi reports
The law “On Military Duty and Military Service” provides for the right of military personnel to be discharged from service under certain circumstances.
“The adoption of the bill will restore the rights of servicemen to be discharged from military service during martial law due to the death or disappearance of their half-brother or sister while participating in hostilities,” the explanatory note to the law says.
Previously, the law on mobilization stipulated that persons liable for military service during mobilization whose close relatives (husband, wife, son, daughter, father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, sibling (full or half) were killed or went missing while participating in hostilities were not subject to call-up.
However, subsequent amendments removed the words “(half) brother/sister”.
In April, before the adoption of the law on enhanced mobilization, a petition from the families of fallen soldiers appeared on the website of the President’s Office. They drew attention to the injustice in a situation where the ban on mobilization does not apply to brothers who are not full brothers, and thus a mother has to send her second son to war if the first one is killed.
The authors of the document, including MP Oleksiy Honcharenko, justified the need to adopt the law by saying that servicemen whose half-brothers or sisters were killed or went missing were in unequal conditions compared to those who lost full-blooded brothers or sisters.
Thus, on December 31, 2024, the law was returned to the Parliament with the President’s signature. The law comes into force on the day following its publication.
According to the document, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine within ten days from the date of entry into force of this Law
- ensure adoption of regulations necessary for the implementation of this Law,
- ensure that ministries and other central executive authorities bring their regulations in line with this Law.
