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Ukraine war
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Ukraine’s divisive mobilisation law comes into force as new Russian push strains front-line troops

  • The legislation, which was watered down from its original draft, will make it easier to identify every conscript and also provides incentives to soldiers
  • Ukraine has struggled for months to replenish depleted forces, as Russian troops push ahead with a ground offensive that opened a new front in the northeast

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Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky pose with a soldier at the 95th Separate Air Assault Brigade’s medical company in Donetsk region. Photo: AFP
Associated Press
A divisive mobilisation law in Ukraine came into force on Saturday, as Kyiv struggles to boost troop numbers after Russia launched a new offensive that some fear could close in on Ukraine’s second-largest city.

The legislation, which was watered down from its original draft, will make it easier to identify every conscript in the country. It also provides incentives to soldiers, such as cash bonuses or money toward buying a house or car, that some analysts say Ukraine cannot afford.

Lawmakers dragged their feet for months and only passed the law in mid-April, a week after Ukraine lowered the age for men who can be drafted from 27 to 25. The measures reflect the growing strain that more than two years of war with Russia has had on Ukraine’s forces, who are trying to hold the front lines in fighting that has sapped the country’s ranks and stores of weapons and ammunition.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also signed two other laws on Friday, allowing prisoners to join the army and increasing fines for draft dodgers fivefold. Russia enlisted its prisoners early on in the war, and personnel shortages forced Ukraine to adopt the new, controversial measures.

Concerns about law

Oleksii, 68, who runs a car repair shop in Kyiv, worries his business will have to shut down as he expects 70 per cent of his workers will be mobilised. He asked that only his first name be used to allow him to speak freely.

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