Zelenskyy signs bill that would extend martial law in Ukraine as tensions with Russian escalate

As the Russia-Ukraine war escalated, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed into law the extension of martial law and general mobilization which were implemented during the start of the conflict.

With Zelenskyy’s consent, the validity of both the legislations was extended from May 14 to August 11. Zelenskyy submitted the proposals for the extension of the laws for 90 days to the parliament on May 6. Two days later, Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, voted to approve the legislation.

This is the second time the war-stricken country’s parliament extended the legislation in 2024. Earlier this year, the parliament voted to extend martial law and mobilisation from Feb. 14 until May 14.

What are these laws about?

Ukraine first declared martial law across the country on February 24, 2022, on the same day Russia commenced its full-scale invasion of Ukrainian territories. Since then, the law has been repeatedly extended to counter the Russian forces on the border.

Last month, Ukraine’s parliament passed a bill to overhaul how the military-drafted civilians. The country passed an amendment to the mobilisation law in which they lowered the conscription age from 27 to 25.

The bill was introduced to expand the number of civilians the army could mobilise to defend the Ukrainian territories from the wrath of Russian forces.

Why Ukraine needs more soldiers?

In December, Zelenskyy stated that the country’s military had proposed mobilising 500,000 more Ukrainians into the armed forces. The request was made by former military chief, Gen. Valery Zaluzhny.

However, Oleksandr Syrskyi, the new head of the Ukrainian armed forces maintained that the aforementioned figure is no longer up-to-date and assured that it has been “significantly reduced after a review of resources,” The Telegraph reported.

In the past, there have been constant calls to reduce the military mobilisation age. Some called it a crucial step since Ukraine was struggling to garner a constant flow of foreign aid.

Another main reason for the reduction of the age is the fact that the average age of Ukrainian troops is over 40. “It is very unusual to have your wars fought by your dads,” quipped Gen. Richard Barrons, former commander of the British military’s Joint Forces Command.

Hence, it was argued that the younger men would be in a better physical condition to fight the battle against the Russians. A similar assertion was made by US Senator Lindsey Graham during his visit to Kyiv.

“I would hope that those eligible to serve in the Ukrainian military would join. I can’t believe it’s at 27,” he told reporters. “You’re in a fight for your life, so you should be serving — not at 25 or 27.”