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Ukrainian Justice Minister Proposes Giving Weapons, Shovels to Mobilized Prisoners

© Sputnik / Evgeny Kotenko / Go to the mediabankUkrainian army launches fourth mobilization campaign
Ukrainian army launches fourth mobilization campaign - Sputnik International, 1920, 18.02.2024
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MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Ukrainian Justice Minister Denys Maliuska on Sunday proposed giving prisoners weapons and shovels when they are mobilized to the Ukrainian armed forces.
Maliuska previously said that at least 50,000 men of military age with criminal records are hiding from Ukrainian draft boards and are not registered with the military.
"I find it difficult to imagine what sort of danger those who were convicted of violating traffic rules with unintended consequences or those who, for example, committed a corruption violation, pose to the Ukrainian armed forces. They certainly would not kill their fellows with a machine gun ... If we do not want to - or we cannot or find it too risky - to give them a gun, let us give them a shovel," the justice minister said on Ukrainian public television.
Maliuska also said that service in the Ukrainian army at the moment was not only about actual fighting but also all sorts of other works such as building the infrastructure.
In Ukraine, two categories of citizens currently are not involved in the mobilization, namely "those who are behind bars and those who are not," but perhaps once received a sentence, the justice minister said, adding that these people continue their normal activities and are not conscripted into army for no apparent reason.
Ukrainian lawmaker Oleksiy Goncharenko said earlier this month that work was underway on a draft law on tightening mobilization in Ukraine, which would provide for the conscription of prisoners.
The mobilization bill prepared by the Ukrainian government was submitted to parliament on January 30. Ukrainian media reported that the document obligates people liable for military service to report to military commissariats to clarify their information within 60 days, and they may be restricted from traveling abroad, deprived of the right to drive a vehicle or have their accounts seized if they fail to do so. However, it does not imply a call-up of people with disabilities and clearly defines the service life of those mobilized during martial law, according to the reports.
Ukrainian soldiers sit in a pickup truck at their position on the frontline close to Bakhmut, - Sputnik International, 1920, 07.02.2024
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Ukrainian Parliament Adopts Bill on Toughening Mobilization in First Reading - Lawmaker
Several Rada lawmakers slammed the bill as unacceptable and unconstitutional and said that its adoption would be a crime against Ukraine.
Martial law was introduced in Ukraine on February 24, 2022. The next day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree on general mobilization. Under martial law, men aged from 18 to 60 are prohibited from leaving Ukraine.
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