Problems Persist in Ukraine’s New Mobilization Drive

July 16 marked the end of the 60-day grace period for all conscripts in Ukraine to update their military data, as required by the new mobilization law that came into force on May 18.

Following the deadline, those who did not update their military registration are subject to fines and certain civil restrictions.

However, while the government introduced new procedures – including a mobile application – to simplify the process, for some Ukrainians the initiative was marred by a number of issues inherent in the system, both digital and physical.

Reserv+, the registration app

Ukraine rolled out the Reserv+ mobile application on May 18, the day the new mobilization law came into force.

Ukrainian men can update their data through the application without visiting the territorial recruitment centers (TRCs). Each conscript will then be given a conscription status, which is available for TRC officers during street checks.

However, issues arising from paperwork errors might still require the conscript to visit the TRCs after updating the data through the app or the local administrative centers (TsNAP), as reported by Ukrainska Pravda.

Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense said more than 4 million conscripts have updated their data so far, including 2.7 million who did so through the app.

Valery, a 20-year-old social media marketing manager, told Kyiv Post that he updated his data through the app when it was launched in May. However, due to some errors, his data disappeared a few days ago, and he had to update it again.

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“I updated my data in the first days of the launch of the Reserv+ app in May. I did not want to receive a fine, and I knew that the system could be interrupted, so I wanted to update my military registration data in advance.

“At first I managed to update them from five attempts, but when I decided to check my status a few days ago, somehow all the data disappeared and I had to update it again,” Valery said.

Vadym, a participant in hostilities and former military serviceman, said his experience with Reserv+ has been “quite successful,” though it’s not without issues.

“It was particularly frustrating for those who have the status of a participant in hostilities (UBD), as this information is not displayed in Reserv+. Additionally, some individuals are listed as fit for service in the application, despite having injuries or disabilities that make them unfit for military duties,” Vadym told Kyiv Post.

He said the app worked and the process was smooth when he and his comrades were checked by TRC officers on the streets, though some data is still lacking in the app that he hoped would be rectified soon in future updates.

“Unfortunately, my Reserv+ application does not yet show updated data or my completed service in the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU).

“According to the application, I passed the military medical commission (VLK) and am fit to serve as a soldier. I hope that the next update will reflect my service accurately,” he added.

Lengthy visits to the TRC

Dmytro, a 29-year-old assistant professor at a local university, said that after successfully updating his data in Reserv+, he visited the TRC to update his medical record and obtain proof of what is known a “reservation from mobilization,” or deferment – for which he is eligible as a professor.

“I finished the military department during university studies, so the last time I was in the TRC was 2017… But I decided to go to the TRC to update my medical record, receive another official paper about my completed registration and military reservation, which is offered to all full-time university professors in my university,” he added.

He then told Kyiv Post about the lengthy processes that awaited him at the institutions. He first registered online for a TRC visit at 9 p.m., and he later found out the TRC only accepts visitors between 9 a.m. and noon on working days in reality, “the hardest time to register online,” he said.

“I decided to visit without registration, and it took me four hours to reach the cabinet. Furthermore, if you register online you skip only the general line outside the building, but you still have to wait in a live queue for your turn in front of the cabinet you need to attend (you have to figure it out at the check-in desk) where there is another queue to leave the building, and you will receive another ticket in the cabinet when you’ve managed to enter,” he said.

Then came the medical checkup, which he said not all doctors were present on the same day and required multiple visits.

“It is not possible to do it in one day since not all doctors are present in one day, and it works only between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. on working days. Two days and five doctors later… you do not receive any documents about completion.

“They say the TRC arrives weekly and picks up the documents. I requested a paper from the hospital director and received it promptly within the hour, but without a stamp,” he added.

Registration by appointment is a good idea, he said, but it only works when its job is to count the total number of Ukrainian men in the world, nothing else.

“The personal visits just keep men busy… so [the process] can still be optimized via delegation to TsNAP (which is already done, but without the reservation [deferment] part from your job), which takes the most time,” he added.

TRC in the eyes of veterans

Vadym, who already served with the AFU, described the TRC process as “no less daunting than Dante’s Inferno,” though he said it’s “understandable when viewed from the army’s perspective,” where order triumphs above all else.

He said he had to visit the TRC the same day after he finished his service to register himself in the military database if paper records were “destroyed in case of occupation,” but veterans like him received no priority in the TRC.

“The first negative impression was made in the hallway when my phone was taken away. Then came the long corridors with offices and even longer queues. Military personnel with UBD certificates were not given any priority and had to wait in line, often listening to conversations about how men of conscription age find loopholes in Ukrainian legislation to evade service,” he said.

And all of that took place beneath the watchful eyes of fallen soldiers whose portraits hung high on the walls, some of whom were once Vadym’s brothers-in-arms on the battlefield.

“Some faces I immediately recognized from our service together in Bakhmut and near Robotyne, including my platoon commander Ihor Koval and UAV unit commander Dmytro ‘Virus’ Pavlenko,” Vadym recalled.

“After a lengthy process, I finally got registered and received a paper ticket to renew my registration in six months, a process to be repeated every six months,” he added.

Nevertheless, he said the process is getting better based on accounts from his subordinates in civilian work. There’s now an electronic queue at the TRC where tickets can be obtained online. He said it usually takes three to five days for guys to pass the VLK commission and register.

“There were different stories, but the negativity was minimal, as everyone understood the situation and its seriousness,” Vadym added.

Dmytro Braslavsky, a former journalist for RBC-Ukraine and now mobilized in the AFU, also told Kyiv Post that the electronic queue worked properly.

“When the mobilization age was lowered, I had to go to the TRC and get a military ID. Understanding the high demand for personnel at the front, I knew they wouldn’t let me go, so I immediately looked for a brigade.

“In short, if you go to the TRC yourself to update your data, you will be treated decently. The electronic queue worked properly. The only annoying part was having to carry multiple photocopies all the time,” said Braslavsky.

Difficulties for Ukrainians abroad

The new mobilization law also stipulates that those without a valid registration abroad will no longer receive consular services such as passport renewals, which led to dilemmas for some.

Sasha, who left Ukraine before the full-scale invasion and has since relocated to Poland, told Kyiv Post that he had documents that exempted him from service on health grounds, but he said authorities withheld the documents he submitted for re-registration and that landed him in a tough spot.

“I did not serve in the army for health reasons, and I have a document about it, and secondly, I officially left before the war started, so I don’t think I’m breaking any laws.

“But my country thinks differently and won’t give me back the documents I submitted for re-registration – my state passport and my foreign passport (the second one),” he said.

Coupled with the fact he has yet to receive his residence permit in Poland after two years of waiting, due to Polish bureaucracy, he is now in a difficult situation.

He added that there is a general concern among Ukrainian men in Poland that they will be drafted into the military and sent back.

“Speaking in general about the situation in Poland, there was a wave of our people who moved on, fearing the situation that they would be drafted into the army and sent back,” he said.

On Monday, July 15, President Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters: “The military says that everything [mobilization] is going according to plan. As for training sites, there are not enough of them. As for whether they can be expanded, they are already being expanded. As for whether it is possible to expand the base abroad, yes, and this is one of the decisions of the bilateral agreement with Poland,” he said, referring to an agreement signed with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, whose details have not been entirely revealed.