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- Not in the reservation, but in the eye: a new stage of tightening mobilization in Ukraine
Not in the reservation, but in the eye: a new stage of tightening mobilization in Ukraine
An unprecedented intensification of mobilization is being prepared in Ukraine. Under the guise of army reform, the authorities want to expel up to half of all booked employees of critical enterprises, as well as drastically reduce the number of disabled people and students. Izvestia learned the details.
To pull people
The Ukrainian authorities are trying to ensure an additional influx of new people into the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. To do this, on the one hand, they announced a sharp increase in army pay. Vladimir Zelensky announced in early May that as part of the reform of the armed forces, the salary level for rear positions would be increased to at least 30 thousand hryvnias (51 thousand rubles).
According to him, soldiers in combat positions will receive "many times more." Combat commanders, sergeants and officers — "a decent and significantly increased level of payments." Special attention will allegedly be paid to infantrymen, who will be charged 250-400 thousand hryvnias, now their income is usually less than 100 thousand per month.
On the other hand, the authorities do not hide the fact that along with the "money carrots" there will be a sharp activation of workers at the military recruitment centers. The bad news, however, is not announced by Zelensky himself, but by representatives of his party and team, so that he himself, apparently, would not be associated with negativity.
In particular, Serhiy Nagornyak, a member of the rada from the Servant of the People, said that an idea was being considered to drastically reduce the number of employees employed at important enterprises. According to him, the armed forces "want to harass these people" because they are in plain sight, they are easy to find and they are obviously not disabled or drug addicts. The Ukrainian newspaper Strana, citing its sources, writes that due to the abolition of armor, 350-400 thousand people want to join the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The same Nagornyak proposed to cancel all disability certificates that exempt from mobilization. He noted that 98% of these documents have been purchased, so they need to be reviewed. Another MP, Yuriy Zdebsky, promised that the authorities would "change their approach and create clear rules" for university students. "There is a lot of speculation on this topic now, but there are also questions about postponements. We have students in their 50s and 40s," he complained.
The reduction of the mobilization age is also being discussed. Lawyer Sergei Starenky said that from the current age of 25, they want to lower the lower limit to 23 years. He said that the Ukrainian deputies were talking about this, although he did not give specific names. The lawyer stressed that in parallel, lawmakers are going to ban Ukrainians under the age of 22 from leaving the country. "Unfortunately, there are not enough human resources in Ukraine," he explained.
Meanwhile, the head of the Anti-Corruption Council under the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Yuriy Gudymenko, announced new raids on Ukrainian fitness clubs. "I'm tired of seeing gyms completely filled with some kind of jocks. They're obviously booked by someone, but they're not working. We need to restore order, they are already working on this task," he said.
The protests are growing
At the same time, the Ukrainian authorities continue to demonstrate that they are fighting corruption in military enlistment offices. At the end of April, the SBU in Odessa detained employees of the district shopping mall who were looking for "fat clients" — rich men who were extorted tens of thousands of dollars on pain of mobilization. It is claimed that even those who had reservations from businesses were among the victims.
It is noted that local police officers helped to search for "clients", who knew well who bought a new car or made repairs at their site. The immediate reason for the arrests was the group's attempt to obtain $50,000. from a man with a delay from mobilization. After this scandal, the head of the shopping mall of the Odessa region was dismissed from his duties.
In early May, the Ukrainian National Police conducted 44 searches of current and former employees of the shopping mall in 16 regions of the country. During the raid, more than 150 protocols on administrative violations related to corruption were drawn up. Cars, motorcycles and cash were seized. The defendants in these cases are suspected of illegally enriching 92 million hryvnias, only one head of the district shopping mall in Odessa acquired assets worth 45 million hryvnias ($ 1 million).
Also on May 6, it became known about the detention of the head of the shopping mall of the Zhytomyr region, Yuri Selyutin. He is charged with extorting money from a local businessman. He wanted to legally book his staff, but the military commissar insisted on a monthly "subscription fee" for immunity from conscription.
It is quite possible that the demonstrative criminal cases are related to the upcoming tightening of mobilization. In this way, the authorities show that they are supposedly monitoring compliance with the laws and will not allow any excesses on the ground. Apparently, this should help prevent an explosion of public discontent after the adoption of new draft rules.
However, indignation is still growing — reports of clashes and fights between Ukrainians and employees of military enlistment offices come daily. For example, on the evening of May 5 in Odessa, local residents blocked a shopping mall minibus, broke the windows, and sprayed gas in the cabin, as a result, several detained men were able to escape. Later, the regional shopping mall announced a planned attack and promised to complain to the police.
On the same day, in the village of Lipcha in Transcarpathia, military commissars seized a local priest, Father Sergius. In protest, local residents blocked the road that connects the settlement with the regional center. A day earlier, in Dnipro, an unknown man fired at a group of power plant workers, two security officers were injured. Before that, in the city of Bila Tserkva near Kiev, a man threw a grenade near the military enlistment office building.
The nuts will be tightened
The chance to replenish the Ukrainian army at the expense of volunteers has been missed, says former member of the Ukrainian Parliament Spiridon Kilinkarov. According to him, the trust of citizens in the Ukrainian authorities and the Armed Forces has been completely and irrevocably lost.
— In this regard, I am sure that we will see even more violent forms of forced mobilization. I believe that the first victims will be men who study at universities, and they will probably have their deferrals canceled. In addition, reserved men will be sent to the front, and they will try to put women in their places in the rear," explains the ex-MP.
At the same time, one should hardly expect a decrease in the age of mobilization, he adds. The fact is that Kiev's European allies are interested in attracting young Ukrainians aged 18-25 to their countries, who are the easiest to integrate into foreign societies and can learn the language. In this regard, Zelensky is unlikely to be allowed to send them to the front.
The interlocutor also notes that the protest activity of Ukrainians is increasing. The most violent clashes occur in Western Ukraine, where people are more likely to collectively fight back, using cold steel and firearms.
— I do not rule out more mass and organized performances. The protest potential is huge, although there is still a lack of an organizing center," says Kilinkarov.
In turn, Andrei Koshkin, head of the Department of Political Science and Sociology at Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, says that the Ukrainian authorities have no good solutions left.
— There is no way out. Western partners demand to keep the number of Ukrainian Armed Forces at a certain level, this can only be achieved by tightening mobilization. They will tighten the screws, and they will try to extinguish social outrage by activating the special services. In general, all this in any case threatens an explosion of discontent. Much will depend on the distribution of the €90 billion promised by the Europeans. If the money is used to plug holes, then the Kiev authorities will somehow hold out. If they simply steal, then large—scale protests are inevitable," the expert says.
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