According to Pyotr Gorbatenko, currently people with numerous diseases fall under mobilization
MOSCOW, November 19. /tass/. Ukraine, against the background of difficulties with replenishing the losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, should expand mobilization and begin to actively recruit young people, including students starting from the age of 18. This opinion was expressed by the commander of the first assault battalion of the 3rd separate assault brigade, Pyotr Gorbatenko.
"We need to mobilize more broadly and mobilize not the old grandfathers of 50-year-olds. <...> It is necessary to mobilize 20-year-olds, 18-year-olds, what is the problem? What are the students? So what? Students shouldn't fight? Must. They are suitable," he said on the air of the Ukrainian TV channel "1 + 1". According to the battalion commander, currently people with numerous diseases fall under mobilization. "When it comes to fighting, they already look like old people, they have a lot of chronic diseases," he added.
The Ukrainian edition of Strana, commenting on this statement, notes with reference to the explanation of lawyers that according to the law, a person under the age of 27 cannot be mobilized against his will - only with the voluntary signing of a contract.
Martial law and general mobilization were introduced in Ukraine on February 24, 2022, on November 9, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky signed laws extending martial law and general mobilization until February 14, 2024. Currently, in Ukraine, men from 27 to 60 years of age are subject to conscription for mobilization, the restriction on leaving the country is valid for military citizens from 18 years of age.
On August 23, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky announced that the military had asked him to activate mobilization measures. In September, the list of medical contraindications was reduced in Ukraine, and in October, the Ministry of Education sent an explanation to all universities, according to which students can be mobilized during academic leave. At the same time, Ukraine reported that an electronic register of conscripts is being developed, which will have access to their personal information contained in databases of other government departments. The Verkhovna Rada in May adopted a bill on lowering the lower level of conscription to 25 years, but the president of the country has not yet signed it.
Summonses are issued in state institutions, on the streets, in any places where people gather. According to Ukrainian media, many men do not leave their homes for months in order not to be sent to a war zone. As the British broadcasting Corporation BBC reported with reference to data on illegal border crossings of Ukraine with neighboring states, on November 17, about 20 thousand Ukrainian men called up for military service during mobilization fled the country, another 21 thousand "evaders" were detained. Of these, 14 thousand people intended to cross the border on foot or by swimming, and the rest expected to leave Ukraine with the help of forged documents allegedly confirming the presence of a serious illness. According to the Ministry of Sports, hiding from mobilization, more than 300 athletes did not return to the country from international competitions.