Ukraine sends older soldiers to the front, but the army needs younger ones.
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A senior military official, who spoke to Bloomberg on condition of anonymity, said the average age of fighters is now 43-45.
Last year, former Muscovite defense minister Shoigu outlined detailed plans to Russian dictator Putin to further expand Russia’s armed forces to 1.5 million from the current 1.15 million. So far, the Russian military has been luring soldiers with promises of generous pay and a new law making it easier for young conscripts to serve on the front lines.
In Ukraine, recruiting remains a challenge.
One factor is that mothers who leave their country with teenage sons do not bring them back. Therefore, fewer men register at the lowest ages of 18, 19 or 20 years.
In addition to the unpopular policy of sending Ukrainian youth to the front, the exemption of men aged 18 to 25 from fighting at the front is motivated by the belief that they will be the key to the restoration of Ukraine in the future. We don’t know how long the war will last, and what resources we will need, and for how long,” said MP Sergei Rakhmanin, a member of the parliamentary committee on security and defense, in an interview with Bloomberg.
The law on lowering the conscription age lay on the desk of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky for almost a year before it was signed.
One of its goals is to introduce mandatory basic military training for men aged 18 to 25. A large number of young people do not receive any military skills, Rakhmanin emphasized.
Burdened with more than four thousand amendments, the law, which came into force on May 18, also narrows the list of exemptions from military service and makes it more difficult to evade conscription.
It was supposed to contain a provision limiting conscripts’ service to three years to appease their families, but it was withdrawn on the orders of military commander Alexander Syrsky.
Source: Racurs
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.