Relatives of missing persons will now be eligible for a deferment from mobilization, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Relatives of individuals who went missing under special circumstances will have a genuine opportunity to receive a deferment from mobilization starting January 14, 2025, as the Cabinet has resolved a previously existing legal conflict that prevented this. This was reported by the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The government has adopted a resolution that establishes an updated list of documents that families of missing persons must provide to obtain such a deferment.

Prior to this resolution, the basis for receiving a deferment from mobilization was a court decision declaring a person missing under special circumstances. However, the legal procedure for obtaining such a decision from the court is not provided for by current legislation. As a result, the relatives of missing persons were deprived of the opportunity to receive a deferment.

From now on, the process for obtaining a deferment for families of missing persons will be aligned with the requirements of the relevant Law, by replacing the requirement to provide a court decision declaring a person missing with an extract from the Unified Register of Missing Persons: in other words, relatives will need to obtain an extract from the Register instead of a court ruling.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs also reminded that the category of individuals eligible for a deferment from conscription for military service due to mobilization includes:

• women and men whose close relatives (husband, wife, son, daughter, father, mother, or full or half-brother or sister) went missing while defending Ukraine and during the state of martial law;
• women and men (or guardians) raising a child (or children) under the age of 18 if the other parent of that child (or those children) is declared missing or absent without a trace.

Recall that on January 14, TCC representative Larisa Kozak stated that deferments and reservations do not exempt a citizen from the obligation to report to the military enlistment office.

On January 9, MP Alexander Fediienko announced that after February 28, those previously reserved may be mobilized within 72 hours.