Dulce et decorum est, pro patria mori.
Horace [& Wilfred Owen
If you are afraid, you say so.
When a person is afraid, his efficiency is minimal.
And the fear of death is always there.
Only a mentally unhealthy person is not afraid.
Military Personnel
"The Ukrainian Defense Forces are now almost a million people who were called up to defend our country. As of today, the majority of them have not felt the frontline in the same way as the minority who are actually at the forefront, actually fighting. This means that we need a different approach to rotations in particular. A different approach to frontline management. A different approach to mobilization and recruitment." President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated 08 February 2024.
Ukrainian men aged between 27 and 60 can be mobilised by draft officers. Men aged between 18 and 26 can't be drafted, though they can enlist voluntarily. About 6,000 people have been detained trying to leave across that stretch, the border guards told Reuters. One of them, Dyma Cherevychenko, said at least 19 people had drowned trying to flee the country during the conflict. At the end of May, the Verkhovna Rada reduced the maximum age for citizens to be registered as military conscripts from 27 to 25. However, by November 2023 the President has not yet signed this law, so the changes have not yet taken effect. On 26 October 2023, Ben Wallace, former UK Secretary of State for Defence, called on the Ukrainian authorities to change their approach to mobilisation, "The average age of the soldiers at the front is over 40. I understand President Zelensky’s desire to preserve the young for the future, but the fact is that Russia is mobilising the whole country by stealth. Putin knows a pause will hand him time to build a new army. So just as Britain did in 1939 and 1941, perhaps it is time to reassess the scale of Ukraine’s mobilisation." Michael O'Hanlon and Alejandra Rocha noted proposals to "Lower the draft age to 25, as officially proposed in a draft bill by the Ukrainian cabinet. This change could potentially render up to 395,000 men turning 25 and 26 this coming year eligible to be conscripted, in addition to the approximately 215,000 Ukrainian men turning 27. Lowering the draft age to 21 would make approximately 685,000 more men potentially eligible and lowering it to 18 another 490,000. " To achieve success in the confrontation with Russia, Ukraine needed to mobilize up to 3 million people. This was stated in an article published 20 August 2023 on the website of the newspaper Die Welt. "There is only one way forward: to wage war as seriously as befits a national liberation struggle. The population of Ukraine, it is true, has declined, but is still more than 30 million people, so that the total number of armed forces can reach up to 3 million. Having such military power, Ukraine could win battles and liberate its territory in the old-fashioned way - in a war of attrition, as in most European wars of independence.
Since 2014, about 1 million Ukrainians have taken part in hostilities in the Donbass and Ukraine. This was announced by the Minister of Defense of the country Alexei Reznikov 22 August 2023. "For 9.5 years (since April 2014, when the Kiev authorities launched a military operation in the Donbass - ed. note), we already have about a million combatants," he said, speaking at the Ukrainian Veterans Forum.
Since February 2022, martial law has been in effect in Ukraine, and general mobilization has been announced. During martial law, it is not possible to refuse military service for religious reasons. Men between the ages of 18 and 60 are prohibited from traveling abroad. At the same time, there are regular reports of difficulties in conducting mobilization, identifying illegal channels for the departure of draft dodgers from the country. According to the Ukrainian Institute for the Future, there are now only about 28.5 million inhabitants in the country, of which the economically active population is about 11.7 million people. Ukrainian media noted that since February 24, 2022, about 8.5 million people have irretrievably left the country.
There were five categories of soldiers in the army. The first are people who did not find themselves in civilian life, had some material problems and joined the army. The second is a military dynasty. The third are those who mobilized for patriotic reasons. The fourth are fanatics. People who come to the service because they feel adrenaline. And the fifth is a cocktail of a little bit of all categories. Ukraine’s armed forces expanded from 260,000 to almost 1 million by May 2023 in response to Russia’s aggression. Michael MacKay claimed 16 May 2022 "Ukraine is now able arm a million people. All of these soldiers are capable of fighting the Russian invaders or simply holding ground in Ukraine. They are all available for defence. For offensive operations in Ukraine, invader Russia doesn't have anything close to that number."
In connection with the attack of the Russian Federation, the Decree of the President of Ukraine No. 65/2022 from February 24, 2022 announced a general mobilization in Ukraine, which was to be held for 90 days. By Presidential Decree No. 342/2022 of May 17, 2022, the decree on general mobilization was extended for another 90 days from May 25. It is likely that this deadline will be extended further in August 2022, because there are currently no prospects for a quick end to the war.
Ukraine has amassed a million soldiers, at the behest of President Volodymyr Zelensky, to recapture its southern areas, defense minister Alexey Reznikov claimed in an interview with The Times. “We understand that, politically, it’s very necessary for our country. The president has given the order to the supreme military chief to draw up plans,” he said in an interview published on Sunday 10 July 2022. “We’re people of the free world and with a real sense of justice and liberty. We have approximately 700,000 in the armed forces and when you add the national guard, police, border guard, we are around a million strong,” the minister added.
Oleksiy Reznikov announced during the "Building Together" online conference 11 July 2022 that now, in connection with the mobilization, 700,000 soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, 90,000 - the National Guard, 100,000 - the National Police and 60,000 border guards are in the Defense Forces of Ukraine.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov explained that a misunderstanding had arisen. "I did not say that we are gathering a million-strong army. Please excuse my English, it is not my native language. Let me be clear: we have a million people under the bayonet in one form or another in the security and defense sector today. I mean the Armed Forces, including units of the Terro-Defense Force, the National Guard, the Border Guard, the National Police, the State Emergency Service, the SBU, as well as the force units of the NABU, etc. [They make up the] million I'm talking about, and we're not collecting another million ," Reznikov said.
More than 250,000 Ukrainian soldiers, as well as 450,000 recently mobilized civilians, are taking part in the massive hostilities against about 200,000 Russian troops (including militants). According to David Arakhamia, who leads Kiev’s negotiations with Moscow and heads the Ukrainian president’s party in parliament, while Kiev has mobilized one million people since the start of the conflict, it can mobilize an additional 2 million soldiers. However, the problem, according to the official, is not a lack of soldiers but a lack of weaponry and supplies. “We have the people trained to attack, to counterattack, but we need weapons for this,” Arakhamia said 15 June 2022.
Oleksii Arestovych, adviser to the head of the President's Office, said that Ukraine now has 700,000 military in reserve. However, if necessary, their number can be increased to one million. Arestovych said this on the air of the Feygin Live program on YouTube. However, in his opinion, there may be a problem with the armament of new military personnel. "Everything depends on the supply of Western weapons, it has its own difficulties ... Some of the weapons need to be produced, some need to be transferred to the Western armies so that they give us - this is a long story. We are aiming for the second half of July," Arestovych said.
He also noted that the system of mobilization has been improved in Ukraine for eight years. In Russia, it is organized much worse. “It would seem - they could, they have been building the armed forces for decades, since 2008, so precisely. They were building for a lightning fast campaign, now the war is protracted. This system will not be rebuilt in six months or a year, even on an emergency basis, as they are now do, it is impossible,” said the adviser to the head of the President's Office. According to him, Ukraine has a radical advantage in terms of mobilization.
On 11 July 2023 the British newspaper Daily Mail noted Ukrainians are concerned about the methods that Kiev uses to mobilize those liable for military service. So, the woman complained that the officials caught up with the 18-year-old cyclist to notify him of the need to arrive at the recruitment point. In Lviv , men were handed summonses right at the entrance to the church, which caused displeasure of the priests, and in Odessa , the police were looking for potential soldiers on the beach. The head of the Lviv administration Maxim Kozitsky, in turn, criticized the distribution of draft sheets on the porch near the temple. According to him, recruits should be sought in shopping centers, recreation areas and roadblocks.
Dmitriy Kovalevich the reported "about a million people have already been drafted. As a rule, these people are untrained and quickly die under massive artillery fire. The drafted Ukrainian infantrymen complain that they are used at the front as ‘bait’ for the Russian military during the counter-battery fight. Virtually unarmed, they are thrown into the front lines, waiting for the Russians to detect them with drones, and hit them with heavy artillery and aircraft, after which Ukrainian artillerymen can detect Russian artillery positions. Such a tactic in itself leads to huge losses, which are replenished due to the fact that the police began to capture males aged 18 to 60 on the streets of cities on a massive scale.
"Men are literally seized on the streets, so many enterprises in the country that are not related to law enforcement agencies and defense have stopped working. Men simply try not to go outside; only their wives, daughters or mothers go to shops, pharmacies or banks. Ukrainian border guards report that about a hundred men are caught every day trying to leave with forged documents, and about 30 more are caught daily trying to flee across the border through forests or swim across rivers. The number of those who managed to escape successfully is naturally not included in the statistics."
| 18-19 | 335 |
| 20-24 | 876 |
| 25-29 | 1139 |
| 30-34 | 1481 |
| 35-39 | 1753 |
| 40-44 | 1587 |
| 45-49 | 1441 |
| 50-54 | 1314 |
| 55-59 | 1188 |
| TOTAL | 11114 |
Accordig to US Census Bureau estimates, as of 2023 the Ukrainian population of 34,800,000 included about 11,114,000 men between the ages of 18 and 60.
The Verkhovna Rada extended the general mobilization from May 25 for 90 days, that is, until August 23. The Ministry of Defense focuses on the need to provide 1 million people who will fight the Russian occupiers.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed 21 May 2022 that in order to protect such a territory, the army should have not 250,000 of servicemen, but much more. The Head of State reminded that at the beginning of the year he signed a decree to increase the number of personnel of the Armed Forces by 100,000 servicemen. "But even 100,000 plus could not stop them (the aggressor's troops - ed.). Today we have 700,000. You see the result of the work of 700,000 people who are at war," the President said.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine decided 14 July 2022 to enroll women in the military only with their consent. Currently, there is still a need for women specialists in medicine, radio engineering and food technology in the Armed Forces. However, according to the General Staff, in Ukraine today "there is no urgent need" to significantly increase the number of women on the military register.
There are 42,000 women serving in the ranks of the Ukrainian army, of which 1,000 are in command positions. Wife of the President Olena Zelenska said this in an interview with the mass media of the Republic of Korea, Yonhap News Agency and KBS TV company. "Ukrainian women are not only victims of this war. These are people who fight on all fronts on an equal footing with men. There are already 42,000 women in our army, while at the beginning of the war there were 37,000. You see that the number of women who want to defend Ukraine is growing. This is a patriotic spirit that cannot be broken," said Olena Zelenska.
President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Verkhovna Rada February 1, 2022, announced "the Presidential Decree on strengthening the state's defense capabilities and the attractiveness of military service was developed. This decree provides for: increasing the financial security of all servicemen to the level of not less than three minimum salaries; Ukraine's transition to a professional army, increasing the duration of contracts, developing the concept of housing for servicemen, veterans and their families, the career system of officers, as well as increasing the number of the Armed Forces of Ukraine by 100,000 over the next three years and creating additional 20 brigade of the Armed Forces. This decree is the start of Ukraine's transition to a professional army. This decree is not because "war is coming soon." This decree is for peace soon. I am happy to sign this decree."
Zelensky signed a decree on strengthening the state's defense capabilities and the attractiveness of military service. This decree provides for an increase in the financial security of all servicemen to at least three minimum wages ( currently UAH 19,500 ) . Ukraine's transition to a professional army, extension of contracts, development of housing for military, veterans and their families. from February 1, 2022, the financial support of the National Guard, border guards and police will also increase. Their salaries increased by 10%. There is also a system of career advancement of officers and an increase in the number of the Armed Forces of Ukraine per 100,000 professional army within three years. 20 additional brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will be created.
Volunteers were streaming into the country by any means they can in order to fight. More than 60,000 Ukrainians from its diaspora had returned to the country by mid-March 2022 and were engaged in fighting Russia, according to Ukraine’s defence minister, Oleksii Reznikov.
Observers quesioned whether Ukraine really needed to increase the number of the Armed Forces by as much as 100,000? The Ukrainian military was already the largest on the continent, not including the Russian, and numbered 261,000 people. Did the state have the resources for such an increase and was it really needed in the transition to a professional army, as President Zelensky also said? What is the content of these additional hundreds of thousands of servicemen and how will the general concept of the Armed Forces of Ukraine change in connection with such an increase?
In a statement on 01 February 2022, Maria Ionova, who sits as an MP for the European Solidarity party, led by former President Petro Poroshenko, heaped scorn on the incumbent leader’s recently signed decree to significantly increase the size of the army. According to Ionova, Zelensky’s promises “to raise the army from its knees… alas, looks like another lie and stupid PR.” Expanding on her remarks, the MP said that “the number of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is regulated by a law of the Verkhovna Rada – not by presidential decree. This should be calculated taking into account the real tasks and financial capabilities of the state.” “Secondly, the transition to a professional army usually means a reduction in the armed forces, not an increase,” she added.
“Today, the recruitment of military units is barely 60% - the military does not serve due to low salaries and unresolved social problems.” She wrote “So when Zelensky talks about increasing the army by 100,000 people, but doesn’t give tactical and economic justifications, it’s like a promise of a billion planted trees”.
The informal ties between the personnel of the Ukrainian armed forces and the Russian army were defacto never severed; one consequence of this was the second wave of Ukrainian commanders going over to the Russian side after the annexation of Crimea (the first wave had already taken place by the mid-1990s, in connection with the exchange of senior personnel between the former Soviet republics on the basis of nationality).
Russian infiltration of the Ukrainian armed forces’ senior staff was conditioned by historical and social (ethnic Russians serving in the Ukrainian army, ties of family and friendship between the personnel of both armies) as well as economic factors (this became particularly visible after salaries in the Russian armed forces were raised in 2012; the disparities in the pay of army personnel serving in the Ukrainian armed forces left them in the position of pariahs with regard to their Russian counterparts).
The most vivid examples of this involve the appointment of the Russian businessman Pavel Lebedev as defence minister (he ran the ministryfrom 24 December 2012 to 28 January 2014, although he remained as acting minister until 27 February that year); and, after the Russian military operation in Crimea, of Admiral Denis Berezovsky as commander of the Ukrainian Navy, who defected to Russia on the second day after his appointment.
This latter case demonstrated not only the extent to which Russia had infiltrated the Ukrainian armed forces’ command, but also the failure of the Ukrainian political elite to discern any leadership potential within the personnel of the Ukrainian army (which was the aftermath of an earlier lack of political interest in defence issues), as well as the limited number of officers who would be able to command the army in the event of armed aggression against Ukraine.
Only military contract service personnel are at the front. However, the Concept of Reform of the Armed Forces Personnel Policy, approved in 2017, does not specify the specific criteria by which military personnel should be selected for contract service in the Ukrainian army. Significantly increased contract wages over the past two years have led to a situation where military service has become financially attractive to people without specialized education. In 2014-2015, most of his subordinates signed contracts solely because of patriotic feelings - by 2019 cash payments played a more important role. Compared to 2014, the level of combat training of Ukrainian soldiers in the conflict zone has increased significantly, according to the Armed Forces. All military experience in platoons, units, companies is gained solely during combat. However, sometimes theoretical training for strategic planning is lacking.
A petition on the website of the President of Ukraine demanding to cancel the order of the Ministry of Defense on military registration for women received a sufficient number of signatures for its consideration by the head of state. So, as of 27 December 2021, the petition was signed by 25,390 people, more than the required 25,000. Days earlier it became known that an order from the Ministry of Defense came into force in Ukraine with a list of 35 industries and professions, whose representatives must register for military service by the end of 2022. These include hundreds of thousands of women, including pregnant women and with small children. As pointed out in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Ukrainian women will not be drafted into the army without their consent, but those who do not register will not be able to get a job. As the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valery Zaluzhny, explained, women are not subject to compulsory mobilization, and they will attend military training only at will. According to him, the army just needs to know what specialists are in the country in order to "join the defense as a last resort."
From 2014 through 2018, the Armed Forces of Ukraine lost more than 33,000 people to desertion. As of early 2019, about 9,300 troops had deserted from the Ukrainian army. This is more than 4.5 percent of the total number of servicemen approved by the Verkhovna Rada in 2015. According to the first Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Ivan Rusnak, who voiced these data, such a number of deserters leads to a serious understaffing of the military units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AF). Under current law, deserters formally continued to be on the military unit's list for as long as they are wanted. So, during this time, financial and financial support is allocated to them, and their position cannot be taken by another person.
According to the director of the Center for Army Research, Conversion and Disarmament, Valentin Badrak, in the beginning of 2019, the Armed Forces are again experiencing staff hunger. "The prestige of service in the army is low enough, during 2018 there was an unprecedented outflow of personnel, when in the first six months alone, 11 thousand soldiers were fired," he said. Out of the situation, the expert sees the rejection of regular recruits and the transition to a professional contract army.
Desertion remained one of the most common crimes in the Ukrainian army, the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine (GPU) has admitted. In 2017, the GPU even named it one of the main causes of the defeat at the "Ilovay boiler" . Responding to a request from the StopFake project, the Prosecutor General's Office said that in 2014-2018 investigators had sent to court more than 11.3 thousand indictments under articles "Desertion" and "Arbitrary leaving of military service".
By 2018 Ukraine faced an ongoing flight from the Armed Forces of the Armed Forces - 11 thousand people broke the contract for the first half of 2018 and another 18 thousand were ready to do this before the end of the year. "For the Ukrainian army, if we consider that its real composition is less than 200 thousand people, every seventh quit or quit this year,” Yuri Butusov, editor-in-chief of the website “Censor.net”, said on August 5 on Ukrainian television. “Moreover, the most experienced and motivated servicemen will quit.”
In 1991, the Ukrainian army numbered around 700,000 troops; by 1996, there were approximately 300,000. In February 2014, on the eve of the Crimean annexation, there were approximately 150,000 in the army, navy, and air force, but be one estimate only 5,000 were battle ready. At the moment of crisis, entire brigades simply melted away. By August 2014, Volunteers, many spurred on by a rise in patriotism in the wake of the Maidan protests, have also helped to boost the armed forces’ numbers. The National Guard has integrated former members from Maidan’s self-defense forces into its ranks.
At the end of 2015, the total number of Armed Forces personnel was 250,000 people, including military personnel – 204,000 people and civilian personnel of the Armed Forces – 46,000 people. However, the decrees of the President of Ukraine on mobilization and the relevant laws of Ukraine envisage increasing the number of soldiers in a special period. The armed forces had successfully transformed themselves from the 6,000 combat-ready troops available in mid-2014 to a powerful, battle-hardened army.
By the end of 2014 the strength of Ukrainian Armed Forces grew from 130,000 to 232,000. Ukraine's military struggled with both recruitment and quality of personnel, as four [six?] waves of mobilization in 2014 and 2015 succeeded in recruiting what an advisor to the Ukrainian President called "alcoholics and dodgers, drug addicts and morons." After increasing its defense budget to about $6 billion, Ukraine created a standing army of 250,000 soldiers -- up from only 5,000 to 6,000 combat-ready troops in April 2014. That made it among the largest armies in Europe [third largest, after Turkey with 400,000 troops and Finland with 280,000 troops, including reserves - Greece, the UK and Italy each have about 120,000, while Germany and France trail with 105,000 soldiers].
The seventh wave of mobilization in Ukraine was not planned, but it may be declared in case of a serious deterioration of the situation in Donbas. This was announced 25 July 2015 by spokesperson for the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Vladyslav Selezniov. Selezniov noted that three waves of mobilization were scheduled for 2015, the fourth, the fifth and the sixth, which is ongoing now. The next wave is not reported on officially, but its possibility is not ruled out.
"The whole situation depends on the developments in the east of the country. We can assume it is possible if there is an extremely serious aggravation of the situation. But as for now, we have no plans to conduct another wave of mobilization this year," the representative of the General Staff said.
Ukraine’s parliament passed a law 05 February 2015 which authorizes commanding officers to use physical force against army defectors. It comes as the latest military draft has seen a lack of enthusiasm on the part of potential soldiers. Ukraine’s parliament voted with 260 MPs in favor - only 226 votes were needed to pass the law. The new article 22(1) added to the charter regulating service in the armed forces of Ukraine states that commanders “have the right to personally use physical force, special means, and weapons when in combat” against soldiers who commit “criminal acts.”
Under criminal acts the law listed “disobedience, resistance or threat to use force against the commander, voluntary abandonment of military positions and certain locations of military units in areas of combat missions.” An explanatory note to the document said that currently there are mass violations of military discipline, in particular, desertion from units and drinking alcohol, as well failure to execute commanders’ orders.
More than 10,000 cases of desertion had been registered in the Ukrainian Army since the outbreak of the Donbass war in April 2014, Ukrainian Vesti reported. In 2014 the army suffered heavy desertion and nearly 30 percent of the servicemen called up in the first wave of mobilization (March 17) abandoned their positions, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said.
Ukraine’s parliament endorsed a presidential decree on mobilization in 2015 on 15 January 2015. President Petro Poroshenko signed a decree on a new round of military mobilization a day earlier. The fourth mobilization began on January 20, and two more would be held in April and June. If need be, about 104,000 men may be called up to serve in the armed forces. Those eligible for mobilization are primarily reserve servicemen aged from 25 to 60. They are supposed to get a month of training before they actually go to the battlegrounds in eastern Ukraine.
The conditions of mobilization in 2015 deteriorated significantly, and the effectiveness of the state to mobilize military service decreased significantly. State regional and district administration and military commissariat of the General Staff are responsible for the mobilization. But by early 2015 in most regions of Ukraine the President had not appointed the order of 50% of the heads of district and regional administrations. General Staff simply failed to create a system of accounting recruits or of accounting reserve military service. Therefore, in the military enlistment offices all the records are on paper.
The military commissioners, appointed by the General Staff, unfortunately were massively infected with corruption and incompetence. Law enforcement agencies began to systematically deal with the military commissar bribery problems that that break mobilization. Mobilization can not answer who and where to call, because in addition to the excessive number of non-combat units, there is no differentiated approach to the quality and selection of personnel. Motivated professional soldiers are forced to fight in some departments with unprofessional and less motivated troops, and even direct military discipline violators who are drunken and rowdy.
Lack of combat training during the war demoralizes even the most motivated and patriotic soldiers. A warrior does not panic when he can adequately assess what is happening and is able to construct a course of action in the most common combat situations. Every soldier must know maneuver - then the soldiers do not panic and can take the initiative to show stress. Combat training is a complete failure of the General Staff.
Salary for "contractor" was established in 2012 and at that time the army helped attract many motivated citizens. Since then, much changed - inflation and the dollar, but the amount of payment remained unchanged. Ukraine needed to create a professional core in the army, and above all in shock combat units. To do this, the minimum wage should be a soldier, even without sending them to the area ATO about 800-1000 dollars, Sergeant - 1200-1500, officer - 2000-2500 dollars. This rate of pay will be competitive with the private sector and will be a great stimulus to the professionalization of the army. People who want to associate with an army of his life, should get this opportunity and be confident in the future.
Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak said 09 January 2015 that it was planned to increase the strength of army personnel from 232,000 to 250,000 people, as well as to create six mechanized brigades, a mountain infantry regiment, three artillery brigades and two army aviation brigades.
The strength of the Ukrainian Armed Forces is to be increased to 250,000 people in 2015. Ukrainian Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak said this in the Verkhovna Rada on 12 December 2014. "The strength of the Ukrainian Armed Forces has increased. Last year we had 130,000 people and now we have 232,000. It is planned to bring the number of Ukrainian Armed Forces servicemen to 250,000," Poltorak said.
The Ukrainian authorities conducted three waves of army mobilization in connection with the 2014 conflict in the country's South-East. In 2014 several waves of mobilization were conducted in Ukraine, with a focus on reservists. Officers under 45 and soldiers under 40 were called up. However, the government confirmed the problem of military service evasion.
According the announcement of Secretary of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) Oleksandr Turchynov on 20 December 2014, recruits would serve for a year and a half and the minimum age limit would be raised from 18 to 20. On the same day, President Poroshenko proposed that soldiers doing compulsory service not be sent to combat zones in southeastern Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed a decree authorizing a new wave of mobilization in the crisis-hit country on 14 January 2015. "I am certain that the Ukrainian people will support this decision and the mobilization will be carried out successfully," Poroshenko said. According to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, the mobilization was expected to begin on January 20, and will be held in three stages. Ukraine planned to bolster its military by calling up some 50,000 people during the new wave of mobilization.
"We are operating under the assumption that Ukraine should become a military state," Dmytro Shimkiv, deputy head of the Ukrainian presidential administration, said 29 September 2014 at a public debate on Strategy 2020 in Kiev. The reforms envisioned an increase in the number of servicemen in Ukraine from 2.8 people to 7 people per 1,000 people, he said. Shimkiv also said the defense and national security reform was a key reform envisioned by the program Strategy 2020.
Ukraine established its own military forces of about 780,000 from the troops and equipment inherited from the former Soviet Union. By 2000 it had reduced this figure to about 500,000 from the troops and equipment inherited from the former Soviet Union. At that time it aimed to reduce the force to between 250,000-300,000 by the end of the decade; considerable downsizing already had taken place. By 2003 it had reduced this figure to about 295,000 (plus 90,000 civilian workers in the Ministry of Defense), with the goal of further reductions to around 275,000 by 2005.
The year 2007 was the second year of implementation of the State Programme of Development of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for 2006-2011, aimed at forming a modern and professional armed forces capable to perform missions in defence of sovereignty and inviolability of Ukraine as well as significantly contribute to international global and regional security. The bulk of efforts of the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and the General Staff (GS) were streamlined to professionalization of the Armed Forces, introduction of service in the military reserve, reaching optimal indices in the organization and strength of functional structures of the Armed Forces as well as their designated level of training.
Professionalization of the Armed Forces is a complex process that stipulates, primarily: contract personnel manning; provision for high-level training of the officer corps; creation of professional sergeants corps; proper level of forces training and their equipping with corresponding weapons and equipment; provision of welfare guarantees to Service personnel and their family. Despite the obstacles of insufficient competition and the image of professional military service in the national employment market the plans for contract personnel manning were met in 2006 (94%); and, in 2007 (101.8%).
The Armed Forces undertook the introduction of a personnel management system that would provide for: an individual approach in personnel policy; maximum reduction of subjectivity in making personnel-related decisions; and, efficient career management. The Requirements for a Service Position as well as the Register of Positions that Require Knowledge and Use of Foreign Languages were adopted. The main element of personnel management is the evaluation of officers’ performance, measuring their personal level and the level of readiness of their subordinate units to perform designated missions.
Since 2006, on the adoption of the Strategic Concept of Employment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine combat training has gained real content. In 2005-2007 the intensity and quality of forces training increased. MOD and GS retained the positive dynamics of the execution of the plans and its main indices within the funding volumes for combat training. Resources were concentrated on the conduct of comprehensive, combined exercises close to real-time scenarios “Reaction-2005”, “Clear Sky -2006”, “Artery-2007” in Ukraine.
Since 1 May 2007 the level of pay for different categories of Service personnel was raised by 25% to 145%; since 1 January 2008, by 12% to 15% (correspondingly, since 1 January 2008 pensions for retired Service personnel are to be re-calculated, their value to increase by 38% to 70%, depending on position and rank); the structure of pay was reorganized - the net weight of basic types of pay has increased 60% to 70% (from 20% in 2003); the negative ratio was cancelled in financial and social security support of Armed Forces Service personnel compared to other uniformed services of the State; and, the principles of transparency were introduced and strictly adhered to in registering and allocating housing.
During 2005-2007, 12,6 thousand apartments were built or acquired for Service personnel. However, the problem of housing remains the most urgent one, while its solution requires the combined efforts of central and local administrations. The procedure for providing housing for military personnel and their family was amended; it defines that in the case of absence of any Service lodging for contract Privates, Sergeants and Sergeant Majors who are single, they are to be accommodated free in the special fitted barracks, and married dormitories.
By the end of 2007, the number of Service personnel on contract in the ranks of Privates, Sergeants and Master Sergeants is 47% of the total. This is 9% higher than the previous year. A new version of the Law of Ukraine “On Military Duty and Military Service” (2006) was approved, determining more simplified procedures for enlistment and adding some more categories of citizens who may enter contract service.
In 2007 the Experiment on the transition of units of the Armed Forces to completely professional Armed Forces continued. The number of units and formations participating in the Experiment has increased from 4 to 15. At the end of the year, 9 of them were manned between 85% to 100% with contract Service personnel, and that enables them to realize fuller value from combat training.
At the end of 2011 the strength of the Armed Forces was 192,000 personnel, including 144,000 military personnel. The downsizing of the strength was recommenced after a long break, was carried out within the terms set by the legislation of Ukraine. In total, 8,000 appointments were cut, including 6,000 military posts. After the Parliament passed the Laws of Ukraine of «The Armed Forces of Ukraine’s Strength for 2011» and «The Armed Forces of Ukraine’s Strength for 2012»7 the Armed Forces returned to legal framework.
Ukraine’s Armed Forces announced in July 2011 it would downsize to 160 thousand personnel by 2016. This figure included 130 thousand military personnel. Of these, 80-90% were expected to be contract personnel. The Armed Forces’ strength at the end of 2011 was 192 thousand personnel, including 144 thousand military. Only 58% of servicemen were on contract.
The non-governmental Center for Army, Conversion and Disarmament Studies (CACDS) published in April 2012 a defense policy report that examined a yet-unreleased Defense Ministry draft proposal for Armed Forces’ reform and development through 2017. According to the CACDS report, the Ministry is considering drastic force reductions, from the current 192,000 military and civilian personnel to 100,000 (85,000 military and 15,000 civilian) by the end of 2014 and 85,000 (70,000 military and 15,000 civilians) by the end of 2017. The draft reform concept also call for a complete transition from a conscription model to a professional contract-based force by 2017.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces were to be downsized almost 50 percent by 2017, General Staff chief Igor Nikolaenko said on 07 September 2012. Military personnel will be reduced from the current 193,000 to 100,000, Ukrainskiye Novosti news agency quoted him as saying. There will be no more personnel cuts after 2017. The country also plans to completely phase out the draft by that time. Ukraine had stated that it was working to strengthen civilian control of the military, professionalize its non-commissioned officer (NCO) corps, and reduce the number of personnel in the Armed Forces of Ukraine by the end of 2012 to 184,000 people, including 139,000 servicemen.
Lebedev, who was appointed defense minister on December 24, added that the Ukrainian government would continue to prioritize the equipment of the Armed Forces with new and modernized weaponry, the improvement of combat training and the participation of Ukrainian military in peacekeeping operations around the world. Ukraine had long been making plans for a transition to a fully professional army, but low defense budgets (currently about $2 billion or only 1.1% of GDP) have hampered the process. In line with the ongoing military reform, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are to be downsized almost 50% by 2017, from 193,000 personnel to 100,000. The goal of the reform is to create in Ukraine “modern European-like armed forces, small in numbers but well-trained, properly supported, mobile and professional,” according to the country’s General Staff.
Over 4,000 Ukrainian servicemen and their families were evacuated from Crimea to mainland Ukraine as of 25 April 2014, the press service of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry reported. "As of April 25, 4,124 persons arrived from the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea to mainland Ukraine. Among them there were 1,422 officers, 103 students of military schools, 1,838 sergeants and soldiers serving on contracts, 18 Ukrainian Armed Forces employees and 743 members of their families, including 274 children," reads the statement.
According to the main personnel department of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, those evacuated largely included representatives of the Ukrainian Navy and their families (2,862 persons) and 835 representatives of the Ukrainian Air Force and their families. The rest are from the units directly subordinated to the Defense Ministry and the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
In addition, as of April 24, according to the General Staff, 429 pieces of weapons and military equipment were moved from Crimea to mainland Ukraine, including 13 ships, boats and vessels of the Ukrainian Navy, 181 vehicles, over 60 armored vehicles and 25 pieces of aviation equipment, as well as rocket and artillery systems, communications, etc. Overall, 105.5 tonnes of military equipment have been withdrawn.
Out of 18,000 Ukrainian troops stationed in Crimea, 3,000 said they wished to continue service with the Ukrainian armed forces, according to Russian sources. The troops departed by buses from various areas in the Black Sea peninsula. Military equipment would be transported to Ukraine by railways, under an agreement with the Russian Defense Ministry. About 12,000 of the 15,450 members of the Ukrainian Navy were based in the Crimea. The Acting Defense Minister Igor Tenyukh reported that 4,300 soldiers from the Crimea wanted to continue to serve in the Forces of Ukraine. "4,300 troops and 2,200 members of their families have expressed a desire to continue to serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine", - said I. Tenyukh, speaking from the rostrum of VR.
More than 16,000 former servicemen and civilian personnel of the Ukrainian armed forces were employed in the military service and given civilian jobs in the Russian armed forces, First Deputy Defense Minister Arkady Bakhin said at an intercom conference held at the situation center of the Defense Ministry on 15 April 2014. "The Russian citizenship was given to 9,268 former servicemen and personnel of the Ukrainian armed forces who were employed in the military service in the Russian armed forces on a contract basis," Bakhin said. Besides, a total of 7,050 former civilian personnel of the Ukrainian armed forces have been employed at the units of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, Bakhin said.
By 2007, almost 20,000 women served in the army. This was about 10% of the Ukrainian army. During contract service in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, women must abstain from marriage and motherhood. In the Ukrainian army, when a woman soldier gives birth, she goes on maternity leave for three years. Her vacancy is occupied. Then, without leaving the first decree, gives birth to a second, - says the minister. - In the US military, women abstain from marriage and motherhood during the term of the contract. Service in the army is a voluntary choice. So it will be fair if a woman signs a five-year contract and commits herself not to marry or have children during this period. By mutual agreement of the parties, the contract may be renewed.
According to Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense, by 2022 female soldiers and officers madke up about 15 percent of Ukrainian army combat forces. Given that as of December 1, 2017, 10,009 women received the status of a participant in hostilities for direct participation in the ATO since 2014, the issue of ensuring equal conditions of service for men and women should be at the top of the agenda of security and defense sector reforms. By 2022, more than 30,000 Ukrainian women had become combat veterans. Those numbers shot up since the 2022 Russian invasion.
For the first time, women held a separate unit at the Independence Parade in 2018, during Poroshenko's presidency. The decision to separate women into a separate "box" was criticized even then, however, women were in the parade in the field, like the rest of the military. Women who consciously made their choices based not only on their vocation of heart or, frankly, purse, but who took into account their level of physical training, skills, abilities and knowledge, and brought them into the army. Such women are at the forefront. In the trenches. Ready for combat missions.
So where to get gender equality in the army, if in civilian life this same equality is rare? Legislation, by the way, also does not promote the adoption of the declared principles of equal opportunities for men and women. Laws governing relations in the field of security and defense develop the theme of women-guardians, women-mothers. As a result, first of all, men (commanders, colleagues) form a stereotype and the corresponding subconscious attitude.
Although the principles of gender equality underlie officer courses and military leadership courses for sergeants, the issue of gender is still far from being addressed systematically. Thus, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Ministry of Defense expanded the list of military accounting specialties and positions that women can hold in the army by amending Order No. 337 (sergeant, soldier) and Order No. 42 (officer). There are developed manuals and scientific literature on gender equality in the army.
Russian sources claimed that by October 2023 the number of foreign mercenaries and NATO soldiers now fighting in Donbass is much higher than most people are aware, and if it is not currently 50%, it soon will be. The Ukrainian military was also said to be increasingly relying on political extremists to help fill its depleted ranks. Roman Edwards, a British mercenary in Ukraine publicly acknowledged on X (formerly Twitter) that almost all Ukrainian fighters, that he is serving with, openly profess Nazi views: "I'm aware since I serve here. Literally everyone I serve with uses some sort of "N4zi" symbol: Swastika, SS lightning bolts, Totenkopf, etc. they even have a giant Swastika flag with blue and yellow... it's not a big deal."
So, the first category of enemies Russian soldiers face are hardcore Nazis and professional foreign mercenaries. These are the terrorists and war criminals who torture and slaughter P.O.W.'s and serve as "blocking troops" who even execute Ukrainian conscript soldiers who refuse or even hesitate to commit suicide by obeying impossible orders. As noted by Vostok Batallion commander Alexander Khodakovsky, the second category of troops – forcibly mobilized Ukrainian conscripts – is much “larger than the Bandera lovers who hate Russia, whose ancestors licked the boots of the Nazis, leaving a will for their descendants to lick the boots of anyone who opposes Russia.”
Russians claim what is left of the Ukrainian Army is a two tiered system of cannon fodder and blocking troops, that sees untrained conscripts thrown onto the front lines, with battle hardened Russian troops in front of them, and blocking troops made up of foreign mercenaries and hardcore Nazis behind them, who will kill them if they retreat or refuse to advance when ordered to. So, the common Ukrainian citizens, primarily from the ethnically Russian and Russian-speaking parts of Ukraine, are kidnapped from the streets by press gangs and thrown directly into battle without adequate training or weapons, where they are forced to face impossible odds in combat.
the Financial Times, published an alarmist article with the message: “In Ukraine, there is low morale and a shortage of military personnel, no one wants to go to the military registration and enlistment office on the eve of winter.” none other than the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine recently disseminated information about the increase in the number of deserters in the Armed Forces of Ukraine by tens of times. In just nine months of this year, 4,638 soldiers fled from the Ukrainian army, and only 10,940 remained. And these are already greatly reduced and embellished figures. According to Ukrainian officials, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are experiencing great problems with replenishing their dwindling reserves, as Ukrainians avoid mobilization by any means or desert. They are called "five hundred" - they are deserters and refusers, those who try to avoid being sent to the combat zone, even with the help of limb damage. Are they in Ukraine? Of course, as in every army and in any warring country. With the beginning of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, a general mobilization was announced. However, some, due to both objective and subjective factors, after voluntarily or by order of the day, began to participate in military operations, come to the conclusion that they are not ready for the corresponding lifestyle, participation in hostilities. That is why cases of voluntary abandonment of a military unit or place of deployment are common. Using modern terminology, we are talking about desertion and desertion (voluntarily leaving a military unit) during martial law in Ukraine. Increase in cases of desertion In the second year of the war, the number of desertion cases in the Armed Forces increased almost five times compared to 2021 and higher than in 2022. This is evidenced by the statistics provided in the reports of the Prosecutor General's Office. According to it, writes the publication "Kraina", in 2021 it was recorded: At the end of 2022, there were ten times more deserters (3,214), the number of SOCH tripled (6,183), and self-shooters five times (177). In 9 months of 2023, the number of deserters increased slightly again and amounted to 4,638. 10,940 voluntary desertions from the location of the unit, 161 cases of crossbows and self-inflicted wounds among the military were also registered. The open electronic judicial registry of Ukraine has published over 800 verdicts under Article 408 - desertion, as well as several thousand documents of ongoing legal proceedings under this article. Given these figures, most likely, there are now several thousand military suspects and prisoners in pre-trial detention centers, prisons and guardhouses who have been prosecuted under Article 408 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Judging by these figures, there may actually be a number of deserters behind bars now, from whom at least one brigade could be formed. Judging by the effective part of the sentences under Article 408, it is worth noting that judges have clearly become much harsher than before the start of a full-scale war in treating deserters - most of them receive five years in prison, in some cases - up to eight years in prison. Until February 24, 2022, most sentences under this article ended in pre-trial agreements between the defendant and the prosecutor. And “pre-war” deserters most often received suspended sentences. Reasons for desertion Many court proceedings under this article now deal with cases of escape from active military units. The defendants in the courtroom confess their fear of death. For example, the verdict cited in the registry tells the story of a National Guardsman who escaped from his unit with a machine gun and 4 magazines of ammunition after a missile landed on his unit in early March 2022. As a result, several dozen of the deserter’s colleagues died. However, the deserter was never found; witnesses told the court that the fugitive National Guardsman was seen in photos on social networks - he was allegedly being held captive by the Russians. The sentence was passed in absentia - eight years in prison. The verdict refers to a soldier who escaped from a combat unit on July 9, 2022. The military man admitted that his trench was shelled. Out of fear, he fled from the position along with the weapon. But then he returned to the unit and was sent for treatment by military psychiatrists. But he did not recover and ran away again. Afterwards he was detained and sentenced to two and a half years in prison. Many of the convicted deserters talk in the courtroom about the fear of death in battle. The soldier of the assault brigade said in the verdict that on August 30, 2022, he left the unit, not “wanting to take part in the assault on the city of Liman without proper support and not wanting to die in battle.” The judge sentenced the soldier to five years in prison.
mobilization - 2024
Everyone supported the military during the occupation of, for example, Kherson. Now that the war is fixed on certain borders, people do not want to serve. They want someone else to fight. But to prevent the war from creeping further, something must be done. President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said that during the discussion of the law on changing the order of mobilization, the military proposed to call up 450-500 thousand people. The head of state announced this during a press conference on 19 December 2024. "This is a very serious figure. I said that I need more arguments to support this direction. This is a question, first of all, of people. The second is justice. This is a question of defense capability and a question of finances," Zelenskyi said. "What will happen to the million-strong army of Ukraine, I believe it is very powerful, what will happen to those guys who are there every day, at least to those who have been defending our state for two years. If we have issues of rotation, we have issues of vacations, then we should also be a comprehensive plan. And to this mobilization law, you must provide answers to me, to society, before the whole society. That's why they started working on this plan. I haven't seen demobilization there yet, although I think it's the number one issue," the head of state emphasized . President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on 01 December 2023 that changes were needed to improve Ukraine’s system of mobilization as part of an overall strategy to improve the country’s military position. In his nightly video address, Zelenskyy said a meeting of the military command had discussed scenarios to produce “concrete results” for 2024 in conditions of war. “In particular, this concerns the issue of mobilization. Everyone in Ukraine understands that changes are needed in this domain,” he said. “This is not simply a question of numbers, of who can be mobilized,” he said. “It’s a question of a time frame for each person who is now in the military, for demobilization, and for those who will join the military. And it's about conditions.” Zelenskyy said the issues had to be examined by commanders and the Defense Ministry for submission to the command. “There were several proposals today, and I am awaiting comprehensive solutions,” he said. On 19 December 2023, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a large press conference on the results of 2023. In response to a question about the draft law on the mobilization of men younger than 27 and women : "Women - no, I will not sign it. As for lowering the mobilization age to 25 - if it is argued, I agree with it." Rustem Umyerov is the Minister of Defense of Ukraine. He headed the department in September 2023. In an interview with Suspilny on 22 December 2023, he stated "In our country, unfortunately, it is perceived that serving the motherland is a punishment. And for me it is an honor. These worldview things need to be changed: both approaches to them and formats.... If we want the help of society, we must say how and whom we want to invite to serve, what will happen to this person when he is released. We are preparing a draft law for this." On December 26, 2023, the Cabinet of Ministers submitted to the Council a draft law "On improving certain issues of mobilization, military registration and military service". Prior to that, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy indicated that during the discussion of the issue of the law on mobilization, the military proposed to call up 450-500 thousand additional people. On January 11, the government officially withdrew the draft law on mobilization from the parliament. On January 11, the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Rustem Umyerov stated that the department's team has already prepared a new version of the draft law on mobilization , taking into account all the proposals agreed upon in the working order with deputies at the meetings of the Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence. On January 30, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the updated version of the draft law on mobilization and submitted it to the Verkhovna Rada . In turn, the Ministry of Defense indicated that the comments and observations to the document were taken into account together with the General Staff of the Armed Forces, the government and people's deputies. The head of the Press and Information Department of the Ministry of Defense, Illarion Pavlyuk, said 02 February 2024 that the new draft law on mobilization does not regulate the issue of the specific number of people who must be drafted into the ranks of the Armed Forces. The official announced this on the air of the "Edyny Novyni" telethon. "We are talking about the creation of a mechanism that will add as many people to the army as necessary. And from now on, this figure will be dictated by the reality of hostilities on the one hand, and the ability of this mobilization mechanism to attract people to the army, the ability of the state to recruit a certain number of people in a certain time provide people with everything," Pavlyuk explained. The Verkhovna Rada's defense committee recommended adopting draft law No. 10449 on strengthening mobilization in the first reading. On 06 February 2024 the Verkhovna Rada supported in the first reading the government bill 10449 on strengthening mobilization. 243 deputies voted "for". People's deputies Yaroslav Zheleznyak ("Voice") and Oleksiy Goncharenko ("European Solidarity") report this. "The draft law was adopted without the proposals of the Committee. Then amendments are made 14 days until February 21 and then the second reading. That is, the draft law as a whole will most likely be adopted in the last week of February, signed at the beginning of March and will come into force in a month, that is, in April" — wrote Zheleznyak. He also reported how voting by factions took place: Servant of the People - 178 European Solidarity — 0 Homeland — 0 Platform for life and peace — 17 For the future - 7 Voice — 3 Trust — 18 Restoration of Ukraine — 12 Extra-fractional — 8 The first reading the draft law provides for the following norms: People with disabilities of all groups will be exempted from military service. However, for persons whose disability of II and III groups (except for military personnel) was established after February 24, 2022, a re-examination is provided. The right to adjournment for employees of law enforcement bodies: BEB, SDB, NABU, Prosecutor's Office, National Police, State Executive Service, Court Security Service, Patronage Service is being reviewed. As before, military personnel are granted leave for 30 calendar days in parts during martial law. But now the document states that such a part should be at least 15 calendar days. The parliament emphasized that the draft law will have changes before the second reading. "Now there are 2 weeks for the submission of amendments. Then they will be considered in the National Security Committee. Then there will be a vote in the Council. Most likely, the consideration in the hall will take place on February 22-23," Goncharenko wrote. "Parliamentarians have a lot of comments on the draft mobilization law, so many points will be changed. In particular, compromises will be sought before the second reading regarding postponing military service for graduate students, seizure of accounts," says a message on the " Servants of the People " Telegram channel. Oleksandr Fedienko , a People's Deputy from the "Servant of the People" faction, a member of the Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence , told Suspilno, "What is happening now with TCCs, when they grab on the street, it looks incorrect and does not give more motivation for mobilization, so we will work on it..." People's deputy from the "European Solidarity" faction, member of the committee on national security, defense and intelligence Iryna Friz told Suspilno that "The question was raised at the committee - in particular, by me - about the need to remove (from the clause on demobilization after 36 months - ed.) the decision of the Staff of the Commander-in-Chief to leave 36 months of continuous military service, but to leave criteria, categories that would determine that if a person was 12 months in the combat zone, then there should be a different accounting, in particular, one to two or one to three days..." In the fall of 2013, it was planned to carry out an extreme draft for term military service and the transition of the domestic army to recruitment under contract. In April 2014, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine recommended to the President of Ukraine, to renew his draft to the army. On 01 May 2014 the President of Ukraine signed a decree on measures to increase the state's defense capability, which reinstated conscription in 2014. The Ukrainian army came out of the "overcoat" of the Soviet army and is still under the influence of the past and is experiencing times of indifference on the part of society. And here again the President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych and the Minister of Defense Pavlo Lebedev spoke about the creation of a professional army based on the contract principle. According to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, the reform of the Armed Forces envisages reducing the number of the Ukrainian army from 192,000 to 70,000 within five years and abolishing conscription already in 2014. Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Volodymyr Zamana stated 07 February 2013 that one of the aspects of the State Comprehensive Program for the Reform and Development of the Armed Forces for 2013-2017, which is being developed, is the transition to military service under a contract. "In the fall of 2013, it is planned to carry out an extreme conscription for military service and the transition of the national army to manning under a contract. Therefore, according to our forecasts, the last conscripts will be released to the reserve already in the fall of 2014," emphasized Colonel-General V. Zamana. According to him, this step is dictated by the fact that the term of conscription mostly does not allow to prepare a serviceman at a qualitative level to perform the tasks assigned to him. "Several options were considered: the return of the two-year term of conscript military service, which, by the way, is being seriously considered today by our Russian colleagues, or to switch to contract service, which, in fact, was chosen. After all, it is quite clear that nowadays the idea of increasing the service life of a conscript is unpromising and outdated. And a contract serviceman is a person who fully dedicates himself to service in the army," noted the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. He explained that practically there are two years to complete the transition to a professional army. During this time, it is necessary to equip the military units with military servicemen under contract, prepare the appropriate material base, solve social issues and change the entire structure of the military service. ?????? ??????? ???: http://www.unian.ua/news/551924-golovnokomanduvach-zsu-prognozue-scho-ostanniy-dembel-bude-u-2014-rotsi.html Compare the army that is being built on the contract principle and on the basis of conscription from the point of view of combat capability, then the results of the comparison seemed clearly in favor of the contract army. In 2013, every six months, the state budget allocates considerable funds for the training of 35,000 conscripts. However, at the end of their service, these soldiers are released and new ones take their place, and everything starts from scratch. Once again, the Ukrainian army spends millions and again at the end of the year it has no combat units. In short, our money is being thrown away. On 26 December 2023 Ukraine proposed reducing the age of those who can be mobilised into the armed forces from 27 to 25 after the military said it needed as many as 500,000 more soldiers in its now 22-month-long war against Russia. The text detailed which Ukrainian citizens would be subject to enrolment for military registration of conscripts and said it would apply to those “who have reached the age of 25”. An explanatory note signed by Defence Minister Rustem Umerov summarised key provisions of the draft law, saying they included the “change of conscription age from 27 to 25 years”. Many parents are watching these changes with horror with fears that their child may be taken to war. And in fact the fears are not unfounded. Conscripts are now considered to be persons from 18 to 27 years of age, who are assigned to military stations. And persons from the age of 27 are considered to be liable for military duty. A conscript cannot be mobilized without his voluntary consent. Only if he gives his voluntary consent to mobilization and signs a contract. And if he does not give and does not sign - then they can not. Persons under 27 years of age get as if an additional guarantee of security that up to 27 years of age they can not be sent to war without their consent, even if they do not have any grounds for deferment from mobilization. At the same time, from the age of 27, with or without consent, a person can be forcibly mobilized and forced to fight. And now they want to lower this threshold, when a person is forced to fight without his consent, to 25 years of age. want to introduce a new type of military service - basic military service. And on it will be able to call up already persons from 18 to 25 years (or 27 years), depending on what draft age will be. And if earlier parents of children who have recently graduated from school were sure that if they did not sign a contract, they would be safe in the coming years. Now there is no such confidence. Because they want to introduce basic military service for them. To which they will be able to send from the age of 18. The planned changes to Article 23 of the Law of Ukraine "On Mobilization Preparation and Mobilization" were on page 16 of draft law 10378.-
The first stage — operational reservists, ex-servicemen and veterans of the ATO and OOS are called up .
The second stage is to call up reservists who did not get into the first wave of mobilization, and military personnel who completed conscript service before 2014 or served under a contract.
The third stage — reserve officers and conscripts who graduated from military departments of universities.
The fourth stage — all citizens aged 18 to 60 who are subject to mobilization (without age, health, etc.) restrictions.
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