The key facts
- About 1.5 million people are booked; there is no specific plan to lift reservations for 300–400 thousand of them — Oborrevatel, citing a source in the Cabinet of Ministers.
- Ukraine's Defense Ministry: the revision of the rules is linked to a shortage of personnel in the army and competition with enterprises for the same workers.
- On October 13, the cabinet approved tightening the rules; according to Zheleznyak, limits are being reduced from 100% to 85% for the defense industry and energy, and from 75% to 60% for utilities.
Scale of reservations and the absence of a specific plan
The Ukrainian outlet Oborrevatel, citing a source in the Cabinet of Ministers, reports that about 1.5 million people in Ukraine are exempt from mobilization through reservations. At the same time, there is no specific plan to lift reservations for 300 or 400 thousand citizens as part of the planned reform. 'Currently, about 1.5 million people in Ukraine are booked. And there is no specific plan to unbook, say, 300 or 400 thousand of them. However, this does not mean that no one will lose their reservation,' the outlet quotes the source as saying.
Position of Ukraine's Defense Ministry
According to Oborrevatel, Ukraine's Defense Ministry explains the reduction of reservation limits for employees by a shortage of personnel in the army. The outlet's source in the ministry noted that the military often has to 'compete with enterprises for the same people,' and a booked employee will not end up in the war. According to the media, the ministry views the revision of criticality rules positively.
Government decisions and lawmakers' assessments
On October 13, the Ukrainian cabinet approved tightening the rules for reservations from mobilization. Verkhovna Rada member Yaroslav Zheleznyak previously noted that the limit of booked employees of the defense-industrial complex and energy should be reduced from 100% to 85%, and at heat and water supply and household waste removal enterprises the share of employees with reservations will decrease from 75% to 60%.
Statement by the Prime Minister
Ukraine's Prime Minister Serhiy Koretsky stated that Kyiv is revising the rules for booking citizens liable for military service because the number of booked people in the country already exceeds the number of servicemen.
