The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has passed in the second reading the law on the mobilisation of prisoners into the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), Ukrainian MP Oleksiy Honcharenko has said on his Telegram channel.
Honcharenko wrote:
“I am a co-author of this bill. And I have long defended the position that prisoners for non-serious articles should be given the right to defend their homeland, and registered the relevant bill. We should give convicts the opportunity to fight, if they want to.”
The parliamentarian said that 279 MPs voted in favour of the bill in the second reading. He also specified that citizens convicted of serious crimes would not be mobilised into the AFU.
In April, the Ukrainian president signed a law on toughening mobilisation measures. The final version of the bill does not envisage the drafting of disabled people, but significantly toughens the process itself.
According to the document, all persons liable for military service must have their records verified by the military commission within 60 days, otherwise they will be registered as evaders. At the same time, the document does not regulate the demobilisation procedure.
