Ukraine seeks to switch its army entirely to contractual service

Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov has said that the Ukrainian army recruitment system requires the end of conscription and the transfer of all servicemen to contractual service.

"All the Soviet legacy, which now exists in the Ukrainian military registration and enlistment offices, we need to fundamentally change, to do a different approach, the maximum digitalization. We need to abolish conscription, make a clear layer-by-layer registry of the reserve," the Ukrainian newspaper “Strana” quotes him as saying.

Reznikov said that it is necessary to create a professional army.

Earlier, a similar initiative was put forward by Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal. He said that it is a professional army that will become the foundation of defence in the future.

According to him, two reserve components will also be established, and all persons liable for military service will have to undergo compulsory training in certain military specialities.