The Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament, has supported a bill on strengthening mobilization in the first reading, opposition Holos (Voice) party MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak reported on Telegram on Feb. 7.

The decision was supported by 243 MPs, with no support from Eurosolidarity or Batkivshchyna:

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·         Servant of the People — 178

·         European Solidarity — 26

·         Dovira (Trust) — 18

·         Platform for Life and Peace — 17

·         Restoration of Ukraine — 12

·         Non-Factional MPs — 8

·         For the future — 7

·         Holos (Voice) — 3

·         Eurosolidarity — 0

·         Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) — 0

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The bill was passed in the first reading without any proposals from the relevant committee. It will be amended within two weeks, by Feb. 21, and then considered in the second reading.

“That is, most likely, the bill as a whole will be adopted in the last week of February, signed in early March and come into force in a month, that is, in April,” Zheleznyak wrote on Telegram.

On Jan. 30, the Cabinet registered an updated draft bill on mobilization and military service. It proposes, among other things, to introduce summonses through an electronic portal. Other innovations include lowering the conscription age to 25, setting the demobilization period at 36 months, introducing voluntary mobilization for convicts, restrictions on evaders, banning civil service without military training, and more.

The initial version of the bill was submitted on Dec. 25, 2023. After drawing sharp criticism from the parliament, it was withdrawn on Jan. 11.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine