The families of Ukrainian soldiers are demanding shorter military service and more rotations for troops on the frontline as Russia's war grinds on.
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00:00 Wives, mothers, sisters and grandmothers protesting on the streets of Kiev against the government's
00:06 controversial mobilization bill. President Zelensky wants to lower the conscription age
00:12 from 27 to 25, end service exclusions for people with minor disabilities and require
00:18 soldiers to spend 36 months in active service. After two years of full-scale war, these women
00:24 are demanding frontline soldiers be relieved of their duties after 18 months. More troops,
00:30 more rotations means less time on the battlefield.
00:33 My husband has been in the active service for two years. He had 30 days of vacation.
00:40 They were only allowed to go on a rotation for a month and a half. That's it.
00:44 Our men have to be replaced, they have to have time to rest.
00:48 And then, if they want to return, then yes. We are in favor of the war continuing
00:55 until we go to the borders of 1991.
01:02 My son is three years old. Most of his life, his father was absent.
01:07 And this puts some shades. This is not a rally about a ceasefire, some war or not.
01:15 This is about the fact that the boys are fulfilling their civic duty.
01:20 Like any citizen of our country, boys should have not only duties, but also rights.
01:28 I am a military grandmother. The boys are fighting from the first day.
01:32 There are no substitutes for them. Many of them died. The boys are exhausted.
01:37 We need them to have short-term terms of service.
01:42 There will be more volunteers who want to be mobilized.
01:47 They will know that they can return. This is not the end of the war.
01:51 Those who survive will return.
01:53 If more volunteers join the fight, conscripts might be allowed home.
01:57 The Ukrainian Army Command says it needs 500,000 new recruits to reinforce troops,
02:03 replace losses and give some relief to those who have been on the front for two years.
02:08 And these women, as many families in Ukraine, believe that reducing active service time
02:15 can only boost morale and increase chances of victory.
02:19 I`m Valerii Goria in Kyiv for EURONEWS.
02:22 (whooshing)