Ukraine will have to mobilize all remaining men. What the media say
Ukraine will have to mobilize its entire male population in the coming years if the conflict continues. At the same time, the country's military leadership cannot solve the problems of desertions and surrenders, which is why the armed forces are experiencing a shortage of personnel. What the world media write about mobilization in Ukraine - in Izvestia's digest.
The Telegraph: how the work of the staff of military commissions in Ukraine goes on
An employee of the territorial center for recruitment and social support (TCS), who introduced himself as Artem, told how his work on finding conscripts for the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) goes. He asked not to be identified by name or city, as he would not want to tell his family and friends that he works at the TSC.
The Telegraph
After a short briefing, his team decides where they will go: some are sent to cafes, restaurants, even nightclubs - any place where they can find combat-ready young men. Then the hard work begins. "Sometimes it's like fighting a cornered rat," Artem said, explaining how he puts his victims in vans and sends them to desperate military recruitment centers.
Young Ukrainians have created localized chat rooms where they inform each other about patrols from military enlistment offices to avoid them. Due to the shortage of manpower in the AFU, military recruitment officers no longer choose whom to stop on the street and check everyone in a row. Even those who have everything in order and who are not subject to mobilization feel a strong fear when their documents are checked.
UNIAN: analyst says that the entire population of Ukraine will be mobilized
Military analyst Denys Popovych, answering a question about the initiative to lower the mobilization age to 18, said that the entire population of Ukraine will be mobilized if the conflict lasts a few more years. Citing data from the Ukrainian military, he noted that "young people are needed" at the front.
UNIAN
"A person aged 45+, and even more so 50+, who are now many on the front, due to their physical data cannot fully fulfill the duties that are assigned to infantrymen. And infantrymen bear the main burden of fighting in the field," Popovich said.
The analyst added that the issue is also about physical training and, in general, the ability to "carry heavy things" and "run long distances." Regarding the initiative to mobilize to the front specifically from the age of 18, Popovych expressed the opinion that "18 years old may not be enough."
"RBC-Ukraine": in the office of Zelensky rejected the idea of mobilization of 18-year-olds
Advisor to the President of Ukraine Dmytro Litvin said that there is no sense in lowering the mobilization threshold to 18 years old. The reason he pointed out is that Western partners do not transfer the promised weapons, which should go to complete the new units.
"RBC-Ukraine"
"It makes no sense to hear calls for Ukraine to lower the mobilization age, ostensibly in order to draft more people, when we see that previously announced equipment is not arriving on time," he wrote.
Lytvyn stressed that due to the delays there were not enough weapons to equip already mobilized soldiers. The presidential adviser also added that Western allies have full access to the data and can compare promises with actual deliveries. According to him, Ukraine will not compensate for delays in logistics by sending young men to the front.
Associated Press: the Ukrainian army is threatened by desertion
Desertions are depriving the Ukrainian army of much-needed manpower and paralyzing its battle plans, which could put Kiev at a disadvantage in future cease-fire talks. Military commanders and soldiers say entire units have abandoned their posts, making defense lines vulnerable and accelerating territorial losses.
Associated Press
Some take sick leave and don't return, haunted by the trauma of <military conflict> and demoralized by grim prospects. Others clash with commanders and refuse to follow orders, sometimes right in the middle of a firefight.
Ukrainians who have gone AWOL have exposed the army's deep-rooted problems. Among them are a flawed mobilization campaign and overstretched forward units. This comes at a time when the U.S. is urging Ukraine to recruit more soldiers and allow even 18-year-olds to be drafted. According to the Prosecutor General's Office, more than 100,000 servicemen have been charged under Ukraine's desertion laws. At the same time, almost half of them deserted in the last year.
The Wall Street Journal: thousands of Ukrainian prisoners of war remain in the "gray zone"
There are about 8,000 Ukrainian soldiers in Russia and up to 5,000 Russians in Ukraine, presumably waiting to return home. The countries do not publish official data. Although Kiev and Moscow have held periodic prisoner exchanges throughout the conflict, and the countries' human rights envoys meet regularly to discuss exchanges, thousands of people are still waiting to return home.
The Wall Street Journal
Ukraine is now resorting to all sorts of schemes to get its soldiers back - even offering its own citizens accused of collaborating with Russia and the remains of a Soviet-era spy buried in western Ukraine
Kiev claims Moscow is stalling and using the captives to pressure President Volodymyr Zelensky, whose term expired May 20. Polls show Ukrainians are tired of the conflict and favor a peace agreement. Wives and mothers of Ukrainian soldiers regularly hold demonstrations in Kiev.
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