6,000 demobilized Ukrainian soldiers return home from war – Poltorak

16:24, 30.03.2016 1 min read

Ukrainian Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak reports that 6,000 active servicemen out of the planned 45,000 were called up for military service during the fourth wave of partial mobilization have been transferred to the reserve as of today.

"The fourth round of demobilization of those 45,000 who have served their service is to begin in April… At the moment, we've dismissed 6,000 soldiers already, in the first 10 days we plan to dismiss 18,000 servicemen, and the demobilization is to be completed by the end of April," Poltorak said at a government meeting on Wednesday.

He also noted that a number of troops who choose to serve in the Ukrainian army on a contractual basis had grown following the increase in military's allowances.

"Due to the work done and an increase in the allowances, I'd like to report that 18,000 soldiers are serving on a contractual basis since the start of this year. This is compared to last year when we had 200-300 contract soldiers per month," he said.

The positive dynamics remain unchanged.

Preference is given to candidates who have combat experience, he added.