Ukraine reduces age of conscription to 25 in order to make up for military shortage

Ukraine made it so that people as young as 25 can now join the military. They did this because they need more soldiers after fighting with Russia for over two years.

The new mobilization law started the day after Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy approved it. Last year, Ukraine’s government approved it.

It was not clear why Zelenskyy took a long time to sign the law. He didn’t say anything about it publicly, and officials didn’t mention how many new soldiers the country would get or which units they would join.

Compulsory military service has been a big issue in Ukraine for a long time because they don’t have enough soldiers or ammunition, which gives Russia an advantage in battle. Russia has not been able to fully use its advantages because it has problems with having enough workers and planning effectively.

The Russian military said that more people have joined recently because they are angry about the terror attack at a concert hall in Moscow last month that killed over 140 people.

Around 16,000 people have joined in the past 10 days, according to Russia’s Defence Ministry. Its statement could not be checked by someone else to make sure it is true.

A group connected to Islamic State said they were responsible for the attack. The Kremlin says Ukraine and the West were involved in the killings, but they haven’t shown any proof. Ukraine and the West say they had nothing to do with it.

Zelenskyy signed a law to allow younger people to be drafted into the military. This law is different from another law being discussed in parliament that would require more people to join the military. The bill 10449 wants to lower the age when people are drafted into the military and also decide who can be excused from serving. It covers many other areas too. This law, which many people don’t like, is having a tough time getting approved by parliament. Lawmakers have submitted over 1,000 changes to it.

Zelenskyy also approved two other laws about mobilization. One of the laws makes an online list for people who want to join the military.

“These laws only make some parts of the mobilization process different. ” “But there are still many problems that need to be fixed,” said Oksana Zabolotna, an analyst at the Centre for United Actions, a government watchdog in Kyiv.

She said that lowering the age for military service probably won’t help the military reach its goal of 500,000 new recruits.

Around 500,000 men are between 25 and 27 years old. She said that some people are not able to work, some have left, and some are not working right now but can work later. She thinks the new law might reach around 10% of the target.

That is a little progress. Military experts say that the average age of Ukrainian soldiers is about 40, which is similar to Russian soldiers. Some people in Ukraine are concerned that removing young adults from their jobs will make the already struggling economy worse. This is a big problem as Kyiv prepares for a possible attack by the Russian military in the summer.

People were very excited to fight against the Kremlin’s forces at first, but now they are not as interested. However, the majority of people still support the war.

Ukraine doesn’t allow men under 60 to travel to other countries right now. Many Ukrainian men are avoiding military service by staying at home or trying to pay money to not have to go to war. The leaders are saying they don’t have enough soldiers to start attacks, and just enough to defend against strong Russian attacks.

Russia has more people than Ukraine, and President Vladimir Putin is willing to make men go to war even if they don’t want to.

Zelenskyy has hardly talked about mobilizing people. In December, he said Ukraine’s army wanted to call up 500,000 more soldiers. But he said he had requested the top leaders to explain the specific information about what is “a very delicate issue” before making a decision on whether to fulfill their request.

Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy said that a big mobilization would cost Ukraine about US$13. 4 billionOther things to think about are whether soldiers at the front will come back home for a break or if they will be replaced by other troops.

Zelenskyy and Gen disagreed about whether to get more troops for Ukraine. Valerii Zaluzhnyi was a well-liked leader of Ukraine’s military, but the president replaced him in February.

The Ukrainian Defence Ministry says that in October, the military had almost 800,000 soldiers. That does not involve the National Guard or other groups. In all, 1 million people from Ukraine are wearing uniforms.

At the same time, Ukraine’s air force reported that it destroyed four drones launched by Russia in central provinces during the night.

An 11-year-old boy was hurt in Russia’s attack in Kupiansk and died in the hospital, the Kharkiv regional Governor said.