Ukraine's parliament not considering lowering fighting age – MP
MP Fedir Venislavskyi, a member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence, said this in a comment to RBC-Ukraine, Ukrinform reports.
"No legislative initiatives to lower the mobilization age from 25 to 18 or 20 are being considered -- neither in the parliament nor in the Verkhovna Rada's committee on national security, defense and intelligence," he said.
He clarified that no bills or proposals on this topic had been submitted to the relevant committee for discussion.
Venislavskyi also addressed rumors about potential changes involving women in military service. He emphasized that no proposals are being considered for the forced mobilization of women who are or may become eligible for military service after voluntarily completing basic military training.
Under current legislation, women subject to military service can only be mobilized during wartime with their voluntary consent.
"All other statements, including those concerning the forced mobilization of 18-24-year-olds after they have completed basic military service, are manipulations and speculation, including from some of our colleagues," the MP said.
Earlier reports from Reuters and AP on November 27, citing senior U.S. officials, claimed that U.S. President Joe Biden's administration had urged Ukraine to revise its mobilization laws to allow drafting individuals as young as 18 in order to rapidly expand its armed forces.
In response, Ukraine’s Presidential Communications Advisor Dmytro Lytvyn stated that lowering the mobilization age would be pointless, given delays in the delivery of pledged weaponry from international partners.
