Kyiv notified the European Council that the rights and freedoms of Ukrainians may be restricted under martial law as it moves to expand military conscription.
Ukraine’s Ministry of Justice has updated a list of rights and freedoms of Ukrainian people and informed the European Council of the update, according to local media.
Under martial law, the military leadership of Ukraine has the right to restrict the freedom of movement of citizens as well as forcibly confiscate private or communal property for state needs.
Ukraine has been under martial law since 24 February 2022. Under the measure, Article 15 of the European Human Rights Convention states that temporary restrictions on people’s constitutional rights apply.
The move comes weeks after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a law lowering the country’s minimum conscription age from 27 to 25 to boost the country’s army.
Under martial law, men in Ukraine are first drafted into military service and then serve in the military. They can later be mobilised to fight by the government.
Ukraine is considering lowering the mobilisation age to 25.
Martial law also prohibits men between the ages 18 and 60 from leaving the country, unless they obtain an exemption for health reasons.
Ukraine is in need of fresh troops to bolster forces in the south and east, where Russia is pressing forward with its efforts to take ground from outnumbered and outgunned troops.
Reversing drain of soldiers
On Wednesday, the Ukrainian government announced that men of conscription age will no longer be able to renew passports from outside Ukraine.
The Cabinet of Ministers said late Wednesday that men between 18 and 60 years old who are deemed fit for military service will only be able to replace their passports inside Ukraine.
Millions of Ukrainians have fled the country since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, mostly to neighbouring European countries.
The European Union’s statistics agency, Eurostat, says 4.3 million Ukrainians are living in EU countries, 860,000 of them men 18 years of age or older.
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