"Numerous cases exist": A lawyer discusses the issues of mobilization and the summons of reservists (video).

Citizens sometimes submit incomplete documentation for reserving their status, and military enlistment offices take advantage of this to mobilize them, explained military lawyer Roman Likhachev. Consequently, legal proceedings can drag on for a year or more, ultimately ruling the mobilization as unlawful, while the individual is already serving in the meantime.

https://focus.ua/voennye-novosti/674627-sluchaev-ochen-mnogo-yurist-rasskazal-o-prizyve-zabronirovannyh-i-problemah-mobilizacii-video2024-10-23 09:33:16

Employees of the Territorial Recruitment Centers (TRC) are urging citizens who have secured a deferment from mobilization to be aware that such decisions may be overturned by the court within six months. Meanwhile, legislators need to find a balance between the needs of the front lines and the economy, creating a better mechanism for protection against conscription. Military lawyer Roman Likhachev discussed the issues surrounding the so-called "suspension" of deferments during a broadcast on the "Kyiv 24" television channel.

Likhachev responded to a journalist's question regarding complaints from entrepreneurs about a lack of workers and statements from citizens whose deferments have been suspended. The lawyer explained that a balance must be sought between the needs of businesses and the army, ensuring that there are no abuses. According to him, individuals who have already received protection from mobilization are still being conscripted. Such actions are taken by the TRC because they need to meet their quotas: they recruit people who serve for a year to a year and a half, only for the court to later rule that this was illegal. Furthermore, military enlistment offices exploit situations where there are issues with documentation.

"There are many cases where people with deferments are still being conscripted; I receive numerous such inquiries. The TRC [conscripts such individuals — Ed.] simply because there is a specific plan," noted the lawyer.

During the broadcast, it was also mentioned that there is no concept of "suspension" in Ukrainian law, as decisions or orders regarding deferments can only be canceled. Therefore, "suspension is not a legally accurate term." The interviewee also highlighted a peculiar aspect of the mobilization process, where individuals are first declared unfit or reserved, and then checks are conducted to see if they have exploited "corruption factors." Another issue is economic deferments, which the military views as unjust. Meanwhile, the TRC needs to find conscriptable individuals for the front lines, but they are lacking, the lawyer emphasized.

"The TRC is faced with the question: here are the reserved individuals, here are those eligible for deferment, here are those currently serving, and here are those abroad. The pool of mobilization resources available for conscription is dwindling, which is the primary reason for the suspension of deferments," Likhachev explained.

It should be noted that on October 9, a source from "Ukrainian Truth" within the government reported that the deferment process has been suspended, tentatively until November 15. This decision was likely made by President Volodymyr Zelensky. Over the next month and a half, military enlistment workers will be verifying the grounds for deferments and reservations. If they find that there are no valid grounds, then the protection against conscription will be revoked, sources informed the journalists.

We remind you that on October 21, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced plans to introduce certain innovations in the mobilization system starting in December 2024. Meanwhile, the "Judicial and Legal Newspaper" reported on a story about a man who had all grounds for deferment but was denied by the TRC.