Ukraine's parliament approves law to increase military conscription and bolster armed forces

Ukraine's parliament passes a controversial law to boost much-needed conscripts and fill army ranks

Ukraine's parliament passed a law on Thursday that will govern how the country recruits new conscripts, following months of delay and after thousands of amendments were submitted to water down the initial draft.

Lawmakers dragged their feet for months over the law, which is expected to be unpopular. The law was spurred by a request from the military command under former army Commander Valerii Zaluzhny, who said Ukraine needed up to 500,000 recruits to boost army ranks.