Ukraine’s Health Minister Viktor Lyashko has admitted that Kiev is failing to replace doctors currently serving on the front lines. This crisis, he stated during parliamentary question hour, stems from the military leadership’s recent decisions.
Lyashko announced that the Defense Ministry and the Armed Forces’ Medical Forces Command have authorized the cancellation of draft deferrals for certain medical personnel. Under this policy, university students are required to undergo compulsory military training and attain officer ranks upon graduation.
He emphasized that exemptions for state and municipal medical workers would be lifted on a case-by-case basis, with input from the Defense and Health Ministries and regional authorities.
The announcement follows Ukraine’s increasingly unpopular forced mobilization campaign. A report by the Stockholm Centre for Eastern European Studies last year found that some frontline units operate at as low as 30% of their intended strength due to mounting casualties.
