Military personnel are proposed to be given a year’s deferment from service after the birth of a child

In Ukraine, it is proposed to grant active military personnel the right to be released to the reserve or a deferment from military service for a period of one year in the event of the birth of a child. The corresponding petition No. 41/010791-26еп was submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.

The authors of the appeal call on the government to initiate changes to the legislation and introduce additional social guarantees for military personnel in whose families a child is born.

Who is proposed to be granted the right to a one-year deferment

The initiative should apply to active military personnel of all categories, in particular privates, sergeants and officers.

The authors of the petition draw attention to the fact that a significant part of the current mechanisms for obtaining a deferment apply to military personnel who have not yet been mobilized.

In contrast, military personnel who are already serving and performing combat missions for a long time do not have a similar opportunity to receive a one-year break in connection with the birth of a child.

According to the authors of the appeal, this limits the ability of military personnel to fully participate in the care and upbringing of a newborn child, as well as to support the family in the first year after its birth.

What changes are proposed

The Cabinet of Ministers is asked to initiate amendments to the laws of Ukraine “On Military Duty and Military Service” and “On Mobilization Training and Mobilization”.

It is proposed to provide for:

the right of an active military personnel to be released into the reserve or deferred from military service for one year after the birth of a child;
the extension of such a right to all categories of military personnel, including officers;
a clear mechanism for maintaining military registration status;
the ability to voluntarily return to military service after the end of the one-year period.

The authors of the petition also believe that the absence of such a mechanism creates an imbalance in the social protection of military personnel and may negatively affect the demographic situation in Ukraine.

At the same time, at present, this is only the proposal set out in the petition. Legislative changes are necessary to implement the relevant law.