TDespite the ongoing Russian war of aggression, the Ukrainian leadership wants to release soldiers from the armed forces at the end of their compulsory military service. It’s about conscripts who were drafted before the war began, said President Volodymyr Zelenskyj in his daily video message on Friday. According to Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Olexiy Danilov, Zelensky asked the military leadership to demobilize these soldiers. There was no concrete information yet about the timing of the layoffs.
The promises are seen as a concession to the soldiers who have fought on the front since the Russian war of aggression began 21 months ago. In recent weeks there have been several demonstrations by relatives of these conscripts calling for increased rotation to give the fighters the opportunity to recover for a longer period of time. However, according to the current martial law, the soldiers cannot be demobilized so easily. To do this, a new law would have to be passed.
While Danilov stated that the layoffs should begin in the near future, Zelensky himself remained much more reserved. A concrete plan for mobilization will be presented next week. Zelensky made the announcement at a press conference with Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs. There are currently around 820,000 Ukrainians serving in the armed forces. In order to be able to send at least some of the conscripts home for a certain period of time, other soldiers must be recruited so that the front does not collapse.
Zelenskyj replaces generals in National Guard
Meanwhile, Zelensky made short work of the leadership of the National Guard. He issued a decree dismissing several high-ranking generals there. The first deputy chief of the National Guard, Lt. Gen. Volodymyr Kondratyuk, was the highest-ranking officer to go, according to presidential decrees published on Friday. Three other deputies were also hit. All but one of the generals were in office before the war. The background to the layoffs is still unclear.
Continued pressure on the EU for accession negotiations
According to Zelensky, Ukraine hopes to begin EU accession negotiations in December. At a meeting, he informed Latvia’s President Rinkēvičs about how Ukraine had implemented the European Commission’s recommendations and that the country was ready for accession talks in December, he said in his video message. “We are waiting for this decision and for the European Union to fulfill its promises,” Zelensky added.
Zelensky also reported a conversation with outgoing Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte. He thanked him for the recent decision to make an additional two billion euros available next year. “The defense of our European way of life must continue, and the unity of Europe is a key element in this,” he said.
Concerns about Dutch aid to Ukraine
Zelensky’s statements are interesting because after the election victory of the Dutch right-wing populist Geert Wilders, Western allies are worried about the continuation of military aid to Ukraine. Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren said on Friday in The Hague that she had been approached about it by several foreign colleagues. They feared that the Netherlands would stop supplying military assets such as F-16 fighter jets once Wilders joined the government. “I hope and expect that the support will continue,” said the minister.
But the Wilders Party for Freedom (PVV) is the largest, said Ollongren. “The PVV has never been enthusiastic about supporting Ukraine in the past, and has even made pro-Russian statements.” In the election manifesto, the PVV speaks out against further military aid. “We do not send our money and military material like the F-16 to Ukraine, but keep them for our own army.”
Air alarm costs 150 million euros per month
The frequent air alerts about the threat of a Russian missile attack in Ukraine are not only annoying, but also expensive. Every day of forced standstill due to air alarms costs the Ukrainian budget three billion hryvnias (around 76 million euros) in tax revenue, the head of the tax committee in parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, Danylo Hetmantsev, calculated on Friday on his Telegram channel. At least two days per month would be lost due to the frequent alarm sirens. This means that the loss for the budget and pension fund is six billion hryvnias (152 million euros) per month.
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