Ukraine's parliament, seeking to boost the country's military force in the face of Russia's takeover of the Crimea peninsula, endorsed a presidential decree on Monday, March 17, to carry out a partial mobilization involving 40 000 reservists, according to Reuters.

Andriy Paruby, Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council, told parliament that 20,000 reservists will be deployed within the armed forces and the rest will be used within the newly-created National Guard.