By HANNA ARHIROVA and SAMYA KULLAB (Associated Press)
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine has decided to lower the age at which people can be drafted into the military from 27 to 25 in order to fill up its diminished ranks after over two years of war due to Russia’s full-scale invasion.
The new law for bringing in more troops went into effect after Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed it. Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, approved it last year.
It was not immediately clear why it took Zelenskyy so long to sign the measure into law. He made only a brief public comment about it at a news conference in Kyiv on Wednesday with Finnish President Alexander Stubb.
An examination requested by Ukraine’s recently appointed top military leader, Oleksandr Syrskyi, found that an earlier calculation stating that the country needed 500,000 new recruits was incorrect, according to Zelenskyy. This is in part because troops serving in less dangerous areas can be sent to the front line, he said.
Zelenskyy said he wasn’t ready to tell journalists how many new people the Ukrainian army will need to draft.
Conscription has been a sensitive issue in Ukraine for many months due to a growing shortage of infantry in addition to a severe lack of ammunition that has given Russia the upper hand in battle. Russia’s own problems with manpower and planning have so far stopped it from fully utilizing its advantage.
But the Russian military said on Wednesday that it has had a recent increase in people joining, attributing it to public anger over last month’s attack on a Moscow concert hall that killed over 140 people.
About 16,000 individuals have signed up in the last 10 days, Russia’s Defense Ministry stated. It could not be confirmed independently.
An associate of the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack. The Kremlin has asserted, without giving proof, that Ukraine and the West were involved in the killings, despite their strong denials.
The law signed by Zelenskyy to lower the conscription age, known as 9281, is separate from a more controversial and extensive draft mobilization law that is still being discussed in parliament. That bill, known as 10449, would not only lower the conscription age, but also specify who has the right to exemptions, among many other matters. This law, expected to be very unpopular, has proven difficult to pass in the parliament, with over 1,000 amendments proposed by lawmakers.
Zelenskyy also signed two other laws relating to mobilization, including one that establishes an online registry for recruits.
“These laws only change certain aspects of the mobilization process. But there are still many other issues that need to be dealt with,” said Oksana Zabolotna, an analyst with the Center for United Actions, a government watchdog in Kyiv.
Bringing down the conscription age probably won't fulfill the military’s earlier request for 500,000 new recruits, she said.
“There are about half a million men aged 25-27. Some of them are unfit for service, some have left, some are in the reserve or have the right to deferment,” she said. She estimated the new law may accomplish about 10% of the goal.
That is still a step forward. Military analysts say the average age of Ukrainian soldiers, like those on the Russian side, is around 40. Some Ukrainians are concerned that taking young adults out of the workforce will have a negative effect on the war-damaged economy. However, the issue has become urgent as Kyiv prepares for an anticipated summer offensive by the Kremlin’s forces.
The initial enthusiasm for joining the fight against the Kremlin’s forces has diminished, although public support for the war remains high.
Ukraine currently prohibits men under 60 from traveling abroad. Many Ukrainian men are avoiding the draft by hiding at home or attempting to bribe their way out of the battle. Commanders say they do not have sufficient soldiers to launch offensives, and barely enough to maintain positions during increasing Russian attacks.
Russia’s population is over three times larger than Ukraine’s, and President Vladimir Putin has shown a readiness to compel men to the front if there are not enough volunteers.
Zelenskyy has seldom talked about the mobilization issue. In December, he mentioned that Ukraine’s military aimed to mobilize up to 500,000 more troops. However, he stated that he had requested the top military officials to provide details on what is “a very sensitive matter” before deciding whether to approve their request.
Zelenskyy stated at the time that such a significant mobilization would cost Ukraine the equivalent of $13.4 billion. Other factors to be considered include whether troops currently on the front would be rotated or granted home leave, he said.
The necessity for a broad mobilization to increase the number of Ukrainian troops was reportedly one of the points of disagreement between Zelenskyy and Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the popular commander in chief of Ukraine’s armed forces whom the president replaced in February.
Ukrainian Defense Ministry statistics indicate that the Ukrainian military had nearly 800,000 troops in October. This does not include the National Guard or other units. In total, 1 million Ukrainians are in uniform.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s air force announced that it had shot down four drones launched by Russia overnight over central provinces.
An 11-year-old boy died in a hospital from injuries sustained during Russia’s attack in the Kupiansk area on Tuesday, according to Kharkiv regional Gov. Oleh Syniehubov. His 58-year-old father was killed in the attack.
Russian attacks across the country are causing chaos, Zelenskyy wrote on X, formerly Twitter, in a plea for Ukraine’s Western allies to provide more air defense systems.
NATO is presently discussing a plan to offer more consistent military support to Ukraine in the coming years. Meanwhile, Zelenskyy and Finnish President Alexander Stubb signed an agreement in Kyiv on Wednesday to provide Ukraine with long-term military and financial aid.
In March alone, the Kremlin’s forces fired over 400 missiles of various types, 600 Iranian-designed Shahed drones, and more than 3,000 guided aerial bombs against Ukraine, he said.
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