phased demobilization – Ukraine’s defense minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, says some soldiers who have been serving since early 2022 could begin returning to civilian life by this year. Kyiv wants to discharge its longest-serving troops by late autumn 2026, using criteria based on militar
For many Ukrainian soldiers. the fight has stopped being a sprint and started to feel like a permanent job they can’t clock out of. More than 1. 500 days after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. the question on the front lines has long been the same: when. if ever. does the war end—and with it. the obligation to keep serving?.
On Wednesday, Ukraine’s defense minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, offered an answer that sounded like a deadline for some and a lifeline for others. He said troops fighting since early 2022 could begin returning to civilian life by this year, even as the war continues.
Kyiv’s goal, Fedorov told local TV news outlet TSN, is to begin discharging its longest-serving troops by late autumn of 2026. “There will be two criteria: how many days you’ve been in military service, and how many combat days you’ve had. If you’ve served since 2014, this will count,” he said.
The logic matters because Ukraine’s discharge system has not worked like a normal system for years. The country’s typical discharge rules were suspended under martial law. effectively obligating fighters to serve indefinitely—until the war ends or a full demobilization is declared. For soldiers, that suspension turned homecoming from a schedule into a hope with no dates.
Until now. that lack of a discharge window has been both a sticking point for weary troops and a political lightning rod. After Russia’s invasion in February 2022, Ukraine mobilized hundreds of thousands of military-aged men. Some who joined in the opening months have been fighting continuously for over four years. with limited time to go home.
The new discussion in Kyiv is not about ending service outright. It’s about sequencing it.
Fedorov’s interview framed the effort as a phased demobilization, with a wave of troops discharged every month. Still, the number released would depend on two things: how Ukraine is faring on the battlefield and whether Russia announces another mobilization wave.
That conditionality is not abstract. It sits beside Moscow’s own mobilization moves. Moscow drafted some 300,000 reservists in late 2022, an unpopular step it has tried to avoid repeating. Instead, it has shifted toward lucrative military contracts and ad hoc recruitment networks to bring in fresh troops.
Within that tense backdrop, Ukraine’s defense ministry is also trying to manage how new contracts intersect with discharge eligibility. Fedorov said the process can begin so that soldiers can return to civilian life. and he added a safeguard for those who sign now but qualify later. “If you have many combat days. you may be discharged by the President’s decree at the end of the year. ” Fedorov said. He also reassured troops that if they signed a new contract now but later qualified for discharge. the latter would take precedence and they would be discharged.
For lawmakers in Kyiv, the politics of discharge have been difficult. Some Ukrainian lawmakers proposed a measure to automatically discharge troops after three years, but it was dropped in 2024. The decision was deeply unpopular. and it remains part of the reason any new plan is likely to be built around phased. criteria-based adjustments rather than a simple automatic cutoff.
Fedorov’s own role is part of the push. The 35-year-old defense minister, appointed in January, has sought to reconfigure Ukraine’s military structure and bureaucracy to fix administrative and leadership issues that have plagued the war effort for years.
Last week. the Ukrainian military announced a new set of military contracts that offer higher pay. clearly defined roles. and set windows for discharge. On Wednesday. Fedorov’s comments suggested that those windows—and the discharge process itself—are now being shaped by the realities of combat duration. service history. and the likelihood of further mobilization on both sides.
The announcement lands with the weight of timing. Fedorov also said the process of bringing soldiers back to civilian life will begin. and he pointed to the scale of the conflict—“It has been over 1. 500 days since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.” For soldiers who have lived without discharge dates for years. the difference between indefinite service and a calendar—even a phased one—is not just administrative. It’s the distance between staying and leaving.
Ukraine demobilization discharge martial law Mykhailo Fedorov military contracts mobilization Russia reservists TSN defense policy soldiers