Reducing street contact and increasing digital control – Kateryna Kotenkova’s thoughts on mobilization reform

Specialist Kateryna Kotenkova emphasized that no ready-made draft law on the planned changes has been presented yet. “There are political statements and discussions, but there are no packages officially submitted to the Verkhovna Rada yet. The most important question is what they actually plan to implement. From what is being announced, a clear trend can be seen: simplifying military contacts on the streets and introducing digital control,” she noted.

According to her, representatives of the Ministry of Defense have already announced that by April they will prepare initiatives that should resolve conflicts that arise during mobilization in cities. Also, according to the Ministry of Defense, it is planned to change the processes related to mobilization, military registration and tactics of using troops.

Kotenkova added that this is not about weakening mobilization, but about optimizing management mechanisms, which will reduce the negative image. Digital technologies are already being actively implemented in the mobilization process, which has become a reality, not just a future. Examples of this can be seen in electronic military documents and the “Reserve+” system, which allows reducing the use of paper records.

“For example, we are talking about minimizing contacts on the street, thanks to the use of state registers, digital military documents, automated checks of deferrals and control over reservations. Such initiatives are already being actively discussed, but final agreements on many points have not yet been reached,” the expert concluded.

Earlier it was reported that representatives of Israel announced their intentions to strengthen their positions against Iran, while the US has its own plans for the region. The results of Zelensky’s visit to Syria, which is considered a strategic step for Ukraine, were also discussed.