Putin pointed out the uselessness of lowering the age of mobilization in Ukraine

A possible lowering of the mobilization age in Ukraine will not change the situation on the battlefield. Russian President Vladimir Putin said this at an enlarged meeting of the board of the Russian Defence Ministry on 16 December.

He called the possible lowering of the mobilization age to 18 as another crime of the Kiev regime.

"Reduce it even to 14 <...>, it will not change the situation on the battlefield. This is clear to everyone," Putin emphasized.

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Earlier, on December 11, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing that the reduction of the mobilization age by the Ukrainian authorities is a matter of time.

At the same time, the Russian Foreign Ministry suggested that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (his term of office expired on May 20) and his entourage were considering the issue of lowering the mobilization age solely as a subject for bargaining with the West.

Shortly before that, the head of the press service of the US Department of State, Matthew Miller, said that Washington was ready to arm new recruits of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) if the draft age is lowered. Zelensky, for his part, refused the offer to mobilize 18-year-old Ukrainians in exchange for compensation for the shortage of military equipment. He added that the goal should be to save as many lives as possible, not to keep weapons in warehouses.

Ukraine has been under martial law since February 2022. At the same time Zelensky signed a decree on general mobilization, it has been extended several times. Most men between the ages of 18 and 60 are forbidden to leave the country. In April 2024, the head of the Kiev regime approved the law on tougher mobilization.