Базова підготовка (Basic Training): Since February 2022, basic training has been compressed for mobilized personnel due to wartime demand. Contract soldiers (Kontraktnyky) receive more comprehensive training. NATO partner nations have trained ZSU soldiers in Germany, UK, Poland, and other partner countries — over 100,000 Ukrainian soldiers have received training abroad as of 2024. Duration: Varies: 2–6 weeks for mobilized conscripts; longer for contract soldiers and officers. Location: Training centres across western Ukraine — specific locations not published for OPSEC reasons.

Those already serving cannot leave — wartime law restricts discharge. The 2022 mobilization decree suspended standard discharge procedures for active military personnel. Soldiers who signed short-term contracts before February 2022 found themselves unable to leave when their contracts expired. The 2024 mobilization law updated call-up ages (25-60 for initial mobilization) and deferment criteria, but the fundamental situation — that discharge is legally restricted during martial law — remains. This is the most significant structural reality of ZSU service right now.

The soldier who knows the military statutes, wartime mobilization law, medical deferment procedures (бронювання / Bronuvannya), family support entitlements, and — critically — discharge procedures. Under wartime mobilization with legally restricted discharge, the Statute Expert's knowledge is immediately valuable to every person who has been called up.

Key terms include: Контрактник (Kontraktnyk): Volunteer contract soldier — someone who signed a voluntary service contract with the ZSU. Before February 2022, contracting was the primary route into the ZSU for non-conscripts. Since mobilization began, the line between contract and mobilized soldiers has blurred in practice though it remains legally distinct.; Мобілізований (Mobilizovanyi): Mobilized conscript — someone called up under wartime mobilization orders. Under the 2024 mobilization law, men aged 25-60 are subject to call-up. Those already serving cannot legally be discharged. The mobilized soldier's legal situation differs from the contract soldier in terms of rights and discharge procedures.; Двохсотий (Dvohsotnyi) / Трьохсотий (Tryohsotnyi): KIA (200) / WIA (300). Soviet-era logistics codes for transporting casualties — "Cargo 200" for KIA, "Cargo 300" for WIA. Now used as standard military euphemisms in Ukrainian forces. If someone talks about "200s" in your unit, this is what they mean..