The shortage of personnel in combat units at the front is the reason for the reduction in the age of mobilization in Ukraine, military expert and military historian Oleg Kuznetsov told Izvestia on April 2.
“For citizens aged 20 to 25 years, the benefits associated with conscription are canceled and draconian measures are introduced that apply to the unfortunate conscripts. “This is all a consequence of the shortage of personnel in combat units at the front, besides, men at this age are the most active, physically developed, intellectually mature and morally stable,” he said.
Kuznetsov noted that despite the close cooperation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) with the North Atlantic Alliance, the central military command and control bodies still work according to Soviet canons.
“People who fall into the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine today, as in the Soviet Union, are divided into two categories: those who are subject to urgent conscription and those who are mobilized. Since Soviet times, healthy men aged 18 to 27 years have been recruited into the ranks of conscripts, and those who avoided conscription service were mobilized in wartime subject to certain rules,” he explained.
The expert pointed out that the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are mostly replenished by the second category of military personnel, as a result of which people with third-degree disabilities, as well as with many other diseases of the musculoskeletal and cardiovascular systems, find themselves on the front line. Thus, this is the most vulnerable group that Ukrainian military commissars take advantage of.
On April 2, Zelensky signed a law lowering the mobilization age from 27 to 25. The Strana.ua publication noted that the bill was adopted by the Verkhovna Rada on May 30, 2023, but has since lain without the president’s signature.
A new bill on mobilization in Ukraine was introduced on January 30. It provides for the distribution of electronic summons, which will be sent to a special conscript’s office; all those liable for military service are required to submit one. Then Verkhovna Rada deputy Irina Friz pointed out that the new law violates the Constitution of the state.
Martial law in Ukraine has been in effect since February 2022. At the same time, President Zelensky signed a decree on general mobilization. Later, the Verkhovna Rada repeatedly extended its validity. Most men between the ages of 18 and 60 are prohibited from leaving the country.
The special operation to protect Donbass, the start of which was announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24, 2022, continues. The decision was made against the backdrop of an aggravation of the situation in the region due to shelling by the Ukrainian military.
#expert #explained #shortage #front #reducing #age #mobilization #Ukraine
