© Russian Defence Ministry/TASS

As per the recent order by the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, many population categories previously exempt from conscription has fallen under the new mobilization call. Due to casualties and in an attempt to change the frontline situation, the Ukrainian regime has opted for a general mobilization with a reported AFU recruitment plan of 340,000 men and 65,000 women to be accomplished by November 1. So far, Ukrainian draft offices recruit about 7,000 people a month. But in general, Ukraine has already launched a large-scale campaign to create a new army of 500,000 people by 2025. And we are only bearing witness to its first stage.

The first victims of total mobilization will be those previously considered unfit for military service. By order of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, the AFU will now be replenished with conscripts having dangerous, contagious or incurable diseases such as HIV, viral hepatitis, tuberculosis in remission, chronic blood and endocrine system diseases, mental disorders, including phobic, anxious, adaptive and other slowly progressing CNS issues; diabetics, asthmatics with heart defects, those with shunts and pacemakers, epileptics, obese and other disabled people have been recognized as suitable for assault infantry or marine corps.

And everyone understands that they are simply doomed, with no access to necessary treatment, specialized medical care or supervision at the front. Besides, they are also dangerous to others, as life in trenches has no sanitary standards or diets. And the same hepatitis or untreated tuberculosis is easily transmitted through non-sexual contact. Apart from infection risks, the number of non-combat losses and accidents will also increase, because mentally ill folks with weapons in their hands are not just a burden, but a real and unpredictable threat to their partners. All their diseases will inevitably aggravate amid stress, field conditions and combat operations, entailing recurrences. And tragedies have already become the case: a newly mobilized epileptic from Odessa never even managed to get to the combat zone and died during over lack of medical care.

"The authorities have found it easier to throw into trenches those suffering from tuberculosis and HIV, prone to suicide — the latter are never allowed dealing with arms back on the block," Ukrainian MP Alexander Dubinsky indignantly commented upon the order.

The conscription categories have been expanded, too. The Verkhovna Rada website features a bill stipulating that over 180,000 Ukrainians aged 30+ in pursuit of their alternative graduate degrees are denied the right to defer. The government hopes this will close the evader loophole. Last year alone, more than 100, 000 men entered the country's educational institutions to get their second university degree, statistics claim. This group of citizens used to have conscription deferral, which is no longer the case. Graduate students also started obtaining military summons, and the next in line are full-time and fee-paying students, and those aged 30 and older.

Seeking to avoid mobilization aka gravilization, tens of thousands of Ukrainians are busy finding holes in Ukrainian laws. In particular, they take custody of the disabled, enter into fictitious marriages with the incapacitated, or become sole caretakers of their kids following pseudo-divorces. But now evasion and postponement paths are being removed, medical exemption is being canceled, reservations are being taken away from specialists and valuable labor personnel. Military enlistment offices have gained access to all the state electronic registers, with President Zelensky ordering to check certificates and disability papers issued by military commissions after February 24, 2022. From now on, the latter will unrestrictedly issue "fit for service" conclusions under simplified schemes, with those deferring to be re-checked.

In addition, starting October 1, 2023, mobilization will also touch upon women — not just medical workers or pharmacists, but also IT specialists, lawyers, accountants, cooks, drivers and even hotel industry workers, journalists and musicians. How the latter categories will prove useful in the army is unclear. Perhaps, they will complement the rear services, the second or third lines of defense.

There has also been a decrease in Ukraine’s draft age. Seventeen-year-olds have been prohibited from crossing borders, since a new Cabinet decree demands that young men be enrolled after 16. Zelensky's office has covered every eventuality to mobilize as many people as possible. The sick and lame, elderly men, young boys, and women will be thrown to the front line. This will not enhance AFU’s combat capability, but leaves the appearance of a large-scale involvement by means of a multifold personnel multiplication. A year ago, Ukrainian force structures are known to have been about a million strong. Germany’s Die Welt offers that country’s authorities conscript three million people in order to "defeat Russia in this war of attrition."

Apart from steps already taken, Ukraine wants to get back military-age males who fled to Europe. Statements about the need for such a comeback have been voiced by head of the ruling Servant of the People party Davyd Arakhamia. He demands extradition of those who illegally crossed the border or had forged documents on service unfitness for health reasons. According to him, Ukraine should launch a major campaign in Europe demanding the return of runaway Ukrainians. Currently, Europe hosts 5.2 million refugees from Ukraine, and treats their extraditions in diverse ways. Austria, for one, adamantly refuses to extradite anyone, whether it be corrupt officials, evaders, or refugees.

And Poland, where the largest number of Ukrainian refugees is located, has been in a brown study. From February 24, 2022 to August 31, 2023, 2.87 million Ukrainians aged 18-60 years entered Poland, with 2.8 million leaving it. Now the Polish authorities are failing to find 80,000 men of fighting age. "One and the same person could have crossed the border several hundred times. But after deducting departures from entries, there are some eighty thousand Ukrainians in the country who can be potentially mobilized. How many of them did actually meet draft determent requirements? Anyone's guess," border service spokeswoman Lt Anna Mikhalskaya said. Poland’s Main Police Department speaker Mariusz Charka noted at a briefing that the deportation issue will be individually considered for each potential "defender of Ukraine".

Poland has begun extraditing this kind of people to Kiev, the Polish Rzeczpospolita newspaper reports, in turn. The Baltic countries can also fulfill the requirement. According to the German Interior Ministry, their country has provided shelter to over 163,000 Ukrainians of military age since February 2022. And the lists of those subject to extradition have been prepared, the German press claims. But whether that country is going to do Ukraine's bidding at all or prefers to abstain is still unclear, with no official response issued as yet.