Ukraine to exempt clowns from mobilization for 'critical importance'
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After Zelensky lowered the drafting age to 25, Ukraine is looking at further amendments, including removing certain medical disabilities from exemption.
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A clown doll is attached to the front of an armored transporter in Debaltseve, DPR, Sunday, February 22, 2015. (AP)
As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky enacted new amendments to the draft permitting the army to conscript 25-year-olds last week and removed several categories of exemptions from military service, his government decided, that alongside certain state employees who are still exempted, several circus troupes are enterprises of "critical importance", and as such performers would also be exempted from mobilization, as confirmed by two lawmakers on April 7.
A Verkhovna Rada Party member, Yaroslav Zheleznyak, said on Telegram that the Traveling Circus of Ukraine and five other troupes have been labeled as “critically important enterprises... for the functioning of the economy and ensuring the livelihoods of the population during a special period."
Another MP, Alexey Goncharenko, also confirmed this designation and said that this did not come as a surprise since the mobilization and exemption procedures have “turned into a circus long ago.”
The defense industry is not included in the list of strategically important enterprises whose employees are exempted from the draft, however, producers of paint and plaster, video game publishers, and even a company that breeds camels are, Goncharenko said.
Zheleznyak, from his end, quipped that those must be special “combat camels,” as there is no other explanation for their exemption.
Read more: Ukraine running dangerously low on air defense missiles: The Telegraph
Zelensky lowered age, removed medical disabilities
On April 2, Zelensky signed a law reducing the country's military mobilization age from 27 to 25, as announced by the parliament on its website.
Zelensky’s reforms also include launching an electronic database of eligible conscripts so Ukrainians will not be able to dodge call-up papers, as many have been doing.
Another amendment is removing from the exemption a range of medical disabilities that usually disqualify individuals from military service, forcing certain people suffering from diseases to undergo a medical commission again.
This comes as Ukraine is suffering significant losses on the frontlines with Russia. Ukrainian authorities have blamed the lack of Western support for the provision of crucial arms and weapons. A shortage in personnel has also been cited as a contributing factor to these losses.
The bill on the age of enlistment had already been approved by Parliament a year ago. In February 2024, parliament reaffirmed its support and took additional steps to formalize the implementation of the law.
On March 25, People's Deputy of Ukraine Dmytro Razumkov announced that a revision in the law would call for Ukrainians as young as 19 to be mobilized.
