Ukraine prepares army draft reforms as war drags on, Zelenskiy says

PHOTO CAPTION: A Ukrainian soldier throws a RGD-5 grenade during a training event with U.S. New York Army National Guard troops, Ukraine, Jan. 29, 2018. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Alexander Rector via U.S. Defense Visual Information Distribution Service)

(Reuters) - Ukraine is drawing up reforms to its programme for mobilising troops as the war with Russia rages on with no end in sight, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday.

Kyiv does not disclose its troop losses or the workings of its mobilisation programme which has been under way since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. Zelenskiy said he had ordered senior officials to draft proposals.

"The plan will be worked out and all the answers will be there - next week I will see this plan," he told a news conference.

Zelenskiy did not reveal details of the reforms. He said issues at military medical commissions and recruitment centres would be addressed.

Ukraine is facing increasing pressure on its recruitment effort as it fights a larger Russian army.

Recruitment offices have been occasionally rocked by scandals involving graft or heavy-handed recruitment tactics.

Earlier this week, several Ukrainian lawmakers said they had been preparing a multifaceted legal bill to improve the mobilisation process.

In August, Zelenskiy dismissed all the heads of Ukraine's regional army recruitment centres as numerous cases of corruption and involvement in draft evasion were reported.



(Reporting by Yuliia Dysa; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)