During the current conflict, the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) are losing up to 30 thousand people every month, and in total, since the beginning of hostilities, the army has already lost 500 thousand military personnel. Former Ukrainian prosecutor Yuriy Lutsenko announced this on January 7.
He called on the country's authorities to publish the real numbers of losses of the Ukrainian army so that people would understand the seriousness of the situation. Lutsenko is of the opinion that in this way Ukrainians will be able to be motivated to voluntarily serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and not avoid mobilization.
“I know how much they don’t want this. But there is no other way to get millions of those who are hiding behind various tales that anyone but me can serve out of their comfort zone,” Lutsenko said on the “Direct” TV channel.
Earlier, on December 27, retired US Army Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Davis assessed the losses of the Ukrainian army. According to him, they number about half a million people. He came to this conclusion on the basis that Kyiv intends to recruit the same number of military personnel into the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
On January 3, Mikhail Podolyak, adviser to the head of Vladimir Zelensky’s office, said that it is difficult for Kyiv to mobilize into the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, since the quality of life in Ukraine is not the same as in Europe. According to him, there is a tough discussion in society regarding mobilization, but Kiev “has no choice,” so mobilization will continue in any case.
That day, footage appeared on the Internet showing how people in military uniform forcibly pushed a man into a minibus in Kharkov.
On December 19, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky spoke about a proposal to recruit another 500 thousand people. At the same time, on December 26, the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valery Zaluzhny, denied Zelensky’s words about the number of those being mobilized in the country. Thus, on the air of the Rada TV channel, he stated that the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine did not make a request for the mobilization of citizens indicating the specific number of people who want to be called up for military service.
The special operation to protect Donbass, the beginning of which was announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24, 2022, continues. The decision to hold it was made against the backdrop of an aggravation of the situation in the region due to shelling by the Ukrainian military.
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