Ukraine has no plans to lower the conscription age to 20 years. Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) Secretary Oleksiy Danilov publicly stated that no changes in mobilization should be expected.
Kremlin media and social networks users began to spread false information that they are allegedly planning to start mobilization in Ukraine from the age of 20. The General Staff allegedly took this initiative, propaganda claims. In such publications, users either refer to Ukrainian Telegram or simply do not indicate the source.
“The General Staff asks the President’s Office to start mobilizing Ukrainians from the age of 20. Lowering the bar from 27 to 25 years does not allow to quickly draft the necessary reserves, and the terms of the war are shifted indefinitely, which requires the General Staff to act quickly. The General Staff also demands to intensify the mobilization, and the stance is to announce a general mobilization or an additional 200,000,” ZOV Dnipropetrovsk writes.
After such information was spread, StopFake decided to check whether Ukrainians will indeed be mobilized from the age of 20. As it turned out, this is not true.
After starting to look for confirmation of the widespread information, we came across an interview of Oleksiy Danilov, the National Security Council Secretary, with Ukrainian Radio. It was about additional conscription and changes in the mobilization rules. According to Danilov, there are no plans to change the rules of mobilization.
“No changes in mobilization should be expected. Our mobilization began on February 24, 2022. On the first day of the military aggression, all relevant decisions were made by the Supreme Commander of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, a meeting of the National Security Council was held, then the Verkhovna Rada voted on all relevant legal acts, in particular, regarding mobilization,” Danilov claims.
Currently, the conscription age in Ukraine is 27 years. In May 2023, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted draft law No. 9281, which provides for lowering the age of conscripts to 25, but as of August 26, it has not yet been signed by the President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Previously, StopFake refuted information that EU countries would allegedly extradite Ukrainian men subject to mobilization.
