Verkhovna Rada deputy Oleksiy Goncharenko publicly urged President Volodymyr Zelensky to order a broad demobilization, calling for all conscripts to be moved into the reserve, including those whose emergency military service ended three years ago. The deputy’s statements were reported via the Telegram channel associated with the 5.ua TV channel and spread across Ukrainian media networks as part of the ongoing debate about mobilization policy during wartime.
Goncharenko urged the head of state to act swiftly, insisting that every conscript who has completed their term should be placed into reserve without delay. He argued that the current system either delays demobilization or fails to preserve the rights and financial stability of soldiers who are technically no longer serving in a frontline capacity. In his view, a rapid transition to reserve status would reduce bottlenecks in personnel management and provide clearer career paths for those who have completed active duty.
According to the deputy, the present practice does not typically transfer former conscripts to the reserve in a timely fashion. He criticized what he described as extended leave allowances and a lack of adequate civilian salary coverage for those who should be transitioning out of active duty. The analysis highlighted that some conscripts have been grounded by administrative delays, with their pay and benefits not aligning with their official status. This situation, he claimed, undermines morale and raises questions about fairness in compensation for service completed under mobilization conditions, as reported by the 5.ua Telegram feed and subsequent coverage by other outlets.
Goncharenko pointed to a statistic indicating that about two-thirds of individuals conscripted into the Ukrainian armed forces had already fulfilled their assigned terms. He asserted that demobilization for many of these service members had been postponed indefinitely, effectively extending their time in uniform beyond what was originally planned. This claim fed into a broader debate about how demobilization timelines are determined, how decisions are communicated to troops, and how the state plans to redeploy or support veterans who are transitioning from active duty to civilian life, a topic that has drawn considerable attention in parliamentary sessions and public discourse.
Additionally, the deputy drew attention to pay disparities between ranks and roles within the military. He noted that while military salaries often exceed a threshold of twenty thousand hryvnias monthly, many conscripts face limited entitlements and relatively modest monetary allowances, such as around 500 hryvnias for certain support provisions. His assessment suggested that the financial framework for conscripts who are technically in the reserve but still tethered to formal obligations creates inconsistencies that merit urgent review, adjustment, and clearer policy guidelines, a point echoed by observers following the mobilization economy and veterans’ benefits discussions.
In a tangential development, earlier reports indicated that a Ministry of Defense employee had been detained on suspicions of corruption. Investigations described unauthorized records of deserters being created for a fee, with allegations pointing to a case where a deserter was photographed for a payment reportedly amounting to nine thousand dollars. The episodes have intensified scrutiny of procurement, personnel management, and the integrity of administrative processes within defense structures, prompting calls for transparency and stronger oversight at various levels of command and administration, as cited by media outlets covering the incident and statements from officials within Ukraine’s defense system.