UKRAINE LOWERS MOBILIZATION AGE TO 25 YEARS IN BID TO BOOST MILITARY RANKS

Wed 03 April 2024:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a bill that envisages lowering the age of people eligible for mobilization from 27 to 25 years, the parliament’s press service reported Tuesday.

The bill was adopted by the parliament in May 2023.

The new legislation envisages that Ukrainian men with no prior combat experience could be enlisted to join the armed forces when they have reached the age of 25.

Later this month, the Ukrainian parliament will vote on a separate bill, which is also expected to tighten mobilization rules in the country.

Earlier, the Ukrainian authorities have voiced the plans to mobilize between 450,000 and 500,000 people to participate in the conflict with Russia.

Russia has been throwing more manpower into its Ukraine offensive, with little major movement on the front for either side in the last year.

Zelensky said in December the army wanted to mobilise up to half a million people to battle Moscow’s forces in Ukraine.

The army enlistment system is considered by many Ukrainians to be unjust, inefficient and often corrupt.

There are also increasing voices to demobilise exhausted fighters who have been on the front for a long time.

Earlier this week, the United Kingdom’s defense intelligence agency released a report that noted Russia had significantly more personnel and munitions on the eastern front than Ukraine and was able to replenish its forces by 30,000 troops a month.

Expanding the draft age has been a controversial issue in Ukraine. At the beginning of 2024, the former Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine’s army Valerii Zaluzhnyi argued that the army needed another 500,000 soldiers.

He expressed his frustration at “the inability of state institutions in Ukraine to improve the manpower levels of our armed forces without the use of unpopular measures.”

Disagreement regarding the draft age is believed to be one of the reasons why Zelensky fired Zaluzhnyi in February of 2024.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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