Zelensky urged to spare older men from draft

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky is now obliged by law to consider whether older citizens should be exempted from military service, after an online petition passed a threshold of support.

The plea on the site of the Ukrainian presidency urging the reduction of forced conscription from the current age of 60 to 50 has received over 25,000 signatories, as of Monday. The petition argues that the move would benefit the country economically, since many Ukrainian men prefer to work off the books to avoid the draft.

Some Ukrainian lawmakers and military officials have argued that the country needs to start mobilizing even younger people to get more able-bodied and tech-savvy men on the frontline.

The position is shared by some of Kiev’s foreign supporters, such as Ivo Daalder, the former US ambassador to NATO. He argued in July that Kiev needs young adults in their late teens and early 20s on the battlefield.

Earlier this year, Zelensky reduced the age of draft eligibility from 27 to 25 as part of a sweeping military reform to conscript more troops to fight Russia. Kiev seeks to boost enrollment through the streamlining of the draft process and the introduction of heavy punishments for avoidance.

Kiev claims that its mobilization drive is progressing well, but that Western failure to provide enough arms to equip new recruits is holding it back. It also wants permission to use donated weapons for long-range strikes deep inside Russia.

Media reports, however, contradict this narrative. Draft avoidance remains a major issue that has crippled budget income, as men participating in the workforce prefer to fly under the radar, being paid in cash. Prime Minister Denis Shmigal declared last week that his government was introducing a “fight or work” regime in the economy to collect more taxes.

Meanwhile, the quality of recruits sent to the front line is so poor that some don’t know basic tactics or how to use a firearm, Ukrainian military leaders and veteran soldiers have complained to the Associated Press.

“Some people don’t want to shoot. They see the enemy in the firing position in trenches but don’t open fire,” a frustrated battalion commander told the news agency last month.

Moscow has warned that the West is using Ukrainian soldiers as ‘cannon fodder’ with Kiev’s complicity.

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