Former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kuleba dissuaded his son from joining the AFU

Former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has dissuaded his son from joining the Ukrainian army. This was reported by the Strana.ua news and analysis website on 12 January.

Kuleba said that his son was attending military courses, but he persuaded the teenager to continue studying at university. At the same time, the former foreign minister emphasized that he would respect his son's choice if he still "decided to go to war".

In addition, the former Ukrainian foreign minister said that the mobilization age might be lowered. According to him, a partial lowering of the mobilization age by one or two years, but not up to 18 years, is more likely.

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Earlier, on 10 January, the Austrian newspaper Die Presse quoted experts as saying that Ukraine was increasingly facing problems with the recruitment and training of conscripts. An analyst of the International Crisis Group, Simon Schlegenya, shared with the newspaper that under the current conditions, Ukraine does not have people to properly train new recruits, as experienced soldiers cannot leave the combat zone.

Before that, on December 28, 2024, Viktor Muzhenko, the former commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), said that the country would have to lower the mobilization age to 18 or 20. However, he said that the lowering of the mobilization age could be postponed by involving members of the security forces in combat operations.

On the same day, it was reported that young men under 18 are leaving Ukraine en masse without their parents under the guise of tourists to avoid mobilization. Some mothers take their sons to Europe and then return to Kiev.

On 16 December, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at an enlarged meeting of the Defense Ministry board that a possible reduction in the age of mobilization of Ukrainians would not change the situation on the battlefield. In his opinion, lowering the mobilization age to 18 is another crime of the Kiev regime.

Martial law in Ukraine has been in effect since February 2022. Then the President of the country Volodymyr Zelensky (powers expired on May 20, 2024) signed a decree on general mobilization. Later, the Verkhovna Rada repeatedly extended its effect. 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.