Called Up at 25: How Ukraine Rewrote Its Military Service Law in 2024

On February 24, 2022, the day Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, President Zelenskyy declared general mobilization in Presidential Decree No. 65/2022, separate from martial law. The Verkhovna Rada approved this on March 3 in Law No. 2105-IX. Mobilization has since been extended repeatedly; as of September 2026, the latest extension is a 90-day period from August 2, 2026, under Presidential Decree No. 597/2026.

Martial law and mobilization are legally separate systems. What is restricted under martial law is covered in What Ukraine’s Martial Law Does and Doesn’t Stop. This article looks instead at how the laws on mobilization and military service themselves have been rewritten since the full-scale invasion, especially in 2024 and 2025. The text follows the version in the Verkhovna Rada’s legal database (zakon.rada.gov.ua) as of September 24, 2026.

There is no ‘mobilization age’ in the law

In spring 2024, it was reported that “Ukraine lowered the mobilization age from 27 to 25.” But the term “mobilization age” does not appear in the text. What changed was the boundary between categories of military-service registration.

The Law “On Military Duty and Military Service” (March 25, 1992, No. 2232-XII; hereafter, the Military Service Law) divides people entered in the military-service register as follows (Article 1):

• Conscripts (призовники): people entered in the military-service register. This includes the younger generation who can be sent to basic military service from age 18
• Persons liable for military service (військовозобов’язані): people held in reserve (запас) to bring the armed forces and other bodies up to strength during a “special period”
• Reservists (резервісти): people serving in the military reserve (військовий резерв)

Article 22 of the Law “On Mobilization Preparation and Mobilization” (October 21, 1993, No. 3543-XII; hereafter, the Mobilization Law) states that those called up under mobilization are persons liable for military service and reservists. In other words, while someone remains in the conscript category, they are not subject to call-up under mobilization.

Law No. 3127-IX, adopted by the Verkhovna Rada on May 30, 2023, is a single-article law that replaces every instance of “27 years old” in the Military Service Law with “25 years old.” As a result, registration as a conscript now runs through age 25 (Article 37 of the Military Service Law), and a conscript who turns 25 moves into the register of persons liable for military service. Once moved, that person, as a member of the reserve, becomes subject to call-up under mobilization. What was reported as “lowering the mobilization age” refers to this mechanism.

This law was published, more than ten months after its adoption, in the Verkhovna Rada’s official gazette, Holos Ukrainy, on April 3, 2024, and took effect the following day.

The upper age limit for remaining in the reserve is 60 for soldiers and non-commissioned officers (Article 28 of the Military Service Law). The obligation to carry an ID, discussed below, applying to “men aged 18 to 60” is connected to this category.

The major amendment that took effect May 18, 2024

On April 11, 2024, the Verkhovna Rada also adopted Law No. 3633-IX, “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine on Certain Issues of Military Service, Mobilization, and Military Registration.” Based on Bill No. 10449, submitted January 30, 2024, it was promulgated April 17 and took effect one month after promulgation, on May 18. This amendment rewrote many laws together, including the Mobilization Law, the Military Service Law, and the Martial Law Law; the points that most directly affect daily life are as follows.

Updating registration data, and the “Reserve+” app

The amending law’s transitional provisions required people entered in the military-service register to update their personal data — address, phone number, and email (if they have one) — within 60 days of the law’s taking effect. Those inside Ukraine update this at their regional Territorial Center for Recruitment and Social Support (TCC and SS), an Administrative Service Center (ASC), or through their electronic personal page (electronic cabinet). Those abroad are told to update it by contacting the email address or phone number listed on the relevant center’s official site, or through the electronic cabinet.

A provision the amendment added to Article 22 of the Mobilization Law states that people entered in the military-service register register their electronic cabinet “voluntarily.” As the vehicle for this, the Ministry of Defense began offering the smartphone app “Reserve+” (Резерв+) on the same day the amendment took effect, May 18. In an announcement the day before, the Ministry called on persons liable for military service aged 18 to 60 and others to update their data within 60 days, by July 16, and explained that the app lets people view their own information in the Ministry’s registry, “Oberih.” From June 18, the app also began displaying a QR code that lets someone’s identity be verified on the spot.

Call-up notices, and carrying an ID

The amended Article 22 of the Mobilization Law sets out what must be written on a call-up notice (povistka) issued by a center: name and date of birth, the issuing center, the purpose of the summons, the place and date/time to appear, the issuer’s signature (including an electronic signature), the notice’s registration number, and an explanation of the duty to report the consequences and reason for failing to appear. Anyone unable to appear for an unavoidable reason must report the reason within three days of the date/time on the notice; the law lists disaster, the person’s own illness, combat and its effects, and the death of a close relative as valid reasons.

Paragraph 6 of the same article imposes a duty, during the period of mobilization, on men aged 18 to 60 to carry their military-registration documents and show them if asked by a center official, a police officer, or, in border areas, a State Border Guard Service official. Such checks are to be recorded by photo or video; this recording requirement has applied since July 17, 2024.

Article 23 of the Mobilization Law lists people granted deferral from call-up under mobilization: on health grounds, for supporting or caring for family, for certain public offices, and other finely divided conditions. Because whether a deferral applies depends on an individual’s documents and procedure, this article does not go into the individual conditions.

Consular procedures for people abroad

Law 3633-IX also added provisions to the Martial Law Law. When a man aged 18 to 60 carries out a consular procedure at a diplomatic mission abroad, if he has not updated his personal data by the legal deadline, the procedure will only go forward together with that update. The exceptions, and the point that a military-registration document is needed to issue a passport, are explained in the section “Effects on Ukrainian men abroad” of the article on martial law.

The one-year contract for ages 18–24, begun in 2025

Conscripts under 25 are not subject to mobilization. For that generation, the government set up a voluntary contract scheme: a two-year “experimental project” established by Cabinet Resolution No. 153 (February 11, 2025; effective February 13). The Ministry of Defense announced the same day that it was launching this as “Contract 18-24” (Контракт 18-24), describing it as a voluntary scheme aimed at people aged 18 to 24. The resolution’s own wording, however, is “citizens aged 18 to 25.”

The Military Service Law also sets the term of service at one year for soldiers aged 18 to 25 who enlist by contract under martial law (Article 23, paragraph 3, as rewritten by 3633-IX). Cabinet Resolution No. 153 adds the lump-sum payment and post-completion treatment on top of that framework. The experimental project runs for two years, and within two months of its end, the Ministry of Defense and others are to report the results to the Cabinet and propose amendments to the law.

Separately, in August 2025 the Cabinet revised border-crossing rules so that men aged 18 to 22 are not subject to the exit restrictions under martial law. The content of this amendment is also covered in the article on martial law.

What people in Japan should check

For a Ukrainian man living in Japan updating his data or carrying out a consular procedure, which provisions apply depends on his age, registration category, health, and family circumstances. This article cannot make that determination. Please check with the Embassy of Ukraine in Japan and through the means the Ministry of Defense officially provides. The text has been amended at short intervals, and what is written here, too, follows the version as of September 24, 2026.