President Zelensky has said he wants to call up 450,000 - 500,000 new troops to the Ukrainian army in 2024. And recently, there have been proposed law changes to bring this through - laws that include more punishment against evasion, lowering the mobilisation age, and even setting a time limit for demobilisation. But this law is pretty controversial, causing debate in Ukrainian society against parts which have been seen as draconian, perhaps even enabling corruption. 

So how will Ukraine effectively mobilise the new troops it desperately needs to continue fighting against Russia? Is there a fair way to choose who goes to fight on the front lines? This episode sees us look at the evolving nature of mobilisation in Ukraine, how it has changed over the past two years, and what its impact has been on troops at the front line and those who may now be called up.

Joining us this week is Francis Farrell, the Kyiv Independent’s war correspondent. Before joining us, Francis was the managing editor at the online media project Lossi 36, and worked as a freelance journalist and documentary photographer. Over the past two years, he’s been travelling across Ukraine and it’s frontlines meeting all the kinds of people who have been mobilised. You can read his reporting through the Kyiv Independent website here: https://kyivindependent.com/author/francis-farrell/ 

Check out insights.Kyivindependent.com for more in depth analysis of the War in Ukraine, and follow The Kyiv Independent on Twitter and Facebook, and Instagram to get latest news and to stay up to date with our coverage.

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