Cabinet resolution #560 of May 16, 2024 

Sponsor: the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine 

Status: in effect since May 18, 2024 

Who is affected: citizens of Ukraine, service members, persons subject to military service, reservists, the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military units, law enforcement agencies, businesses, state bodies, local government bodies, local state administrations, military administrations, civil-military administrations, territorial recruitment and social support centers, and the Cabinet of Ministers 

Summary: 

The following persons are subject to mobilization: 

  • medically fit reservists and persons subject to military service who do not have the right to deferment during mobilization. 

It is also allowed to mobilize persons: 

  • discharged from military service due to lustration. They can be appointed to positions not subject to lustration 
  • convicted of criminal misdemeanors, minor crimes (including those released from serving sentences), as well as grave criminal offenses (excluding those convicted of crimes against the foundations of national security of Ukraine) 
  • convicted of special grave offenses (excluding those convicted of crimes against national security). They can be mobilized only by the decision of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, intelligence units, the Central Office of the Security Service of Ukraine, or its regional offices 
  • released from serving sentences on parole (excluding those convicted of crimes against national security). They will serve exclusively in specialized regiments of military units. 

National Police of Ukraine: 

  • ensures the participation of police officers in notification groups who notify reservists and persons subject to military service 
  • organizes checks of military registration documents (in paper or electronic form) along with identity documents for men aged 18 to 60. If the documents are missing or the person is wanted according to databases of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the police detain and deliver them to the nearest recruitment center. 

State Border Guard Service of Ukraine: 

  • checks military registration documents (in paper or electronic form) along with identity documents for men aged 18 to 60 at the border 
  • denies exit from Ukraine for men aged 18 to 60: 
    • in the absence of military registration documents 
    • if a person is wanted according to the Register of Conscripts, Persons Subject to Military Service, and Reservists. Border guards will call the police to detain and deliver the person to the nearest recruitment center. 

Persons subject to military service and reservists: 

  • must update their registration data (address of residence, phone numbers, email addresses (if any), and other personal data) within 60 days at an administrative services center, via electronic cabinet, or at the recruitment center at their place of residence 
  • if a military registration document is missing or lost, a new one is issued during the data update. 

Conscription notice delivery: 

  • persons are summoned to the recruitment center, intelligence units, or the Central Office of the Security Service of Ukraine or its regional office during mobilization by delivering or sending a conscription notice 
  • a conscription notice must include: 
    • surname, name, patronymic, and date of birth of the person 
    • name of the authority issuing the notice 
    • purpose of the summons 
    • place, day, and time of attendance 
    • signature (qualified electronic signature) of the official who issued the conscription notice, and the date when it was signed 
    • registration number of the conscription notice 
    • explanation of the consequences of the failure to arrive and the obligation to report reasons for such a failure 
  • conscription notices can be delivered by: 
    • representatives of a recruitment center within the administrative territory of its jurisdiction 
    • representatives of a raion or city state administration (military administration) within its administrative territory 
    • representatives of executive bodies of village, settlement, city, and city district councils (if a city has city district councils) within their administrative territory 
    • representatives of enterprises, institutions, and organizations on their premises and workplaces 
    • representatives of intelligence units, regional SSU offices (only for reservists and persons subject to military service registered there) throughout Ukraine 
    • conscription notices can be sent as registered mail with receipt confirmation to the address of residence of a person subject to military service or reservist. If the person does not update their data within 60 days, the conscription notice will be sent to the declared or registered address 
    • conscription notices are sent no later than the next day after the responsible official signs them. The date of summoning must be set at least 14 days after the date when the conscription notice is sent by mail or as a registered mail with receipt confirmation 
  • conscription notices can be delivered 24/7 at the place of residence, declared or registered address of stay, work, education, public places, public buildings, places of mass gatherings, recruitment centers, checkpoints, and state border crossing points 
  • conscription notice delivery is documented as photo and video records by the recruitment center personnel or police 
  • if a conscription notice is sent by mail, the notification is considered delivered if there is: 
    • the date of receipt, confirmed by information and/or documents from the postal operator 
    • the date of refusal to accept or absence of a person at the address provided by the person during data update at the recruitment center or before 
  • valid reasons for not arriving on the designated date include: 
    • a natural disaster, illness, military hostilities in the area and their consequences, or other circumstances preventing the person from arriving on the designated date and time 
    • the death of a close relative (parents, spouse, child, siblings, grandparents) or spouse’s close relative 
  • a person must promptly notify the recruitment center of the reasons for their failure to arrive within the time specified in the notice and arrive within 7 calendar days 
  • if a person refuses the conscription notice, the notification group drafts an administrative liability act, recites it to the person, and submits it to the head of the recruitment center. The police officer accompanying the notification group detains the person and delivers them to the recruitment center. 

Notification groups: 

  • notification groups are assembled on the order of the head of raion or city state administration (military administration) at the request of the head of the recruitment center 
  • no later than a day before the notification events, the local recruitment center head issues an order approving: 
    • the appointment of group leaders 
    • notification routes (including addresses of building and public places, names of streets and squares) 
    • enterprises, institutions, and organizations whose staff are to be notified 
    • notification time and periods 
    • procedure for involving the management of public utility services (heads of housing associations and similar entities), local government bodies, and police 
    • conscription notices are issued to recruitment center representatives designated to deliver them and who must sign for the receipt of the notices. These representatives then report the number of issued and delivered notices. 

Deferment procedure: 

  • issues of deferment during martial law are reviewed by a commission comprising of a head of a recruitment center and representatives of a raion or city state (military) administration 
  • deferment for persons registered with intelligence or SSU bodies is decided by a commission formed by relevant unit heads 
  • deferment for persons reserved by state bodies, enterprises, institutions, and organizations is not reviewed by these commissions 
  • persons entitled to deferment must submit a written application and supporting documents (or certified copies) to the commission head in person. This application must be registered 
  • after reviewing the application, the commission makes a decision and communicates it to the applicant by mail, email, or phone no later than the next day 
  • persons subject to military service who applied for deferment are not sent for medical examination until the commission makes a decision 
  • if deferment is denied, the person is sent for a medical examination to determine their fitness for military service 
  • persons subject to military service with deferment during martial law are not sent for medical examination (unless they enlist for service under contract) 
  • persons subject to military service will not be mobilized (but still can enlist voluntarily) in the following cases: 
    • if they are under 25 and have completed basic general military training 
    • if they have served and were discharged from captivity. 

Summons to medical examination: 

  • reservists and persons subject to military service who passed the medical examination during peacetime and were declared medically fit are not sent to the military medical commission if they have no health complaints 
  • persons who have not undergone a medical examination or whose medical certificate expired are sent to the military medical commission 
  • citizens who updated their military registration data are summoned to the medical examination by a notice 
  • medical certificates regarding the fitness for military service issued during martial law are valid for one year 
  • persons under 45 are evaluated for fitness in airborne troops, special operations forces, and marines 
  • decisions of a military medical commission can be annulled by a higher-level commission or appealed in court. 

Mobilization to the service: 

  • based on medical, professional, and psychological evaluations, reservists and persons subject to military service eligible for conscription during martial law receive call-up notices that they have to sign at recruitment centers 
  • a refusal to receive a call-up notice or non-compliance with its requirement to arrive by a reservist or person subject to military service will result in criminal liability 
  • women on military registration can be called to service during mobilization only voluntarily. 

Military service: 

  • reservists and persons subject to military service called up for military service during mobilization report at the designated time and place mentioned in the conscription notice for deployment to their military unit 
  • persons subject to military service without prior military experience are sent to training units for basic general military training. 

What is right: 

  • implements the requirements of the mobilization law 
  • regulates the conscription notice delivery procedure 
  • regulates the registration and accounting of conscripts, persons liable to military service, and reservists, defines grounds for deferment, and updates regulations on the work of the military medical commission 
  • introduces photo and video recording of document checks and delivery of conscription notices. 

What is wrong: 

  • the provision allowing to recognize a conscription notice sent by mail as a received one makes it impossible to hand a conscription notice directly to a person 
  • it is unclear how the 24/7 distribution of conscription notices is going to be carried out during curfew. If it implies apartment-to-apartment rounds, they will negatively impact public morale and are generally inefficient 
  • granting more powers regarding conscription notices delivery to some officials and state bodies will increase risks of power abuse 
  • conscription notice delivery at checkpoints and the state border will slow down border crossing point operations, threaten fuel supply, and disrupt trade already limited by Russian attacks on Ukrainian ports. 

Alternative solution: 

amend the conscription notice delivery procedure to minimize the risks of power abuse. 

Additional information: 

  • article by Oksana Zabolotna: How “legalized” evasion from mobilization undermines the country’s defense capabilities 
  • Ok, So What? podcast, ep. 151: The bill on mobilization was introduced to patch the legal “holes” 
  • Ok, So What? podcast, ep. 155: Some prisoners may go to the front 
  • column by Oksana Zabolotna: Amendments that were skipped in the mobilization law 
  • column by Oksana Zabolotna: Between bad and worse. Why did we get such a mobilization law? 
  • According to the Law explainer“: Conscription notice can’t just be delivered on the street.