The Daily Populous Wednesday January 29th, 2025 night edition
Authored by kyivindependent.com and submitted by AdSpecialist6598

This audio is created with AI assistance

President Volodymyr Zelensky defended Ukraine's mobilization efforts in an interview with the Italian news outlet Il Foglio on Jan. 25, saying that the quickest way to bring soldiers home was to mobilize enough servicemembers to force Russia to end the war.

Ukraine has struggled with manpower issues throughout Russia's full-scale invasion. An updated mobilization law passed in April 2024 aimed to address these difficulties, simplifying the process for identifying eligible conscripts and introducing penalties for draft dodgers.

Mobilization slowed last autumn despite the legislative reforms, leaving depleted front-line units to face Russia's eastern advance.

"(M)artial law, it provides for the mobilization of people, and all the resources that are in the country. Absolutely everyone," Zelensky said in a video of the interview published by the Presidential Office on Jan. 27.

"And that, unfortunately, is the challenge of this war, and why we need to maximize the speed to end it. To force Russia to end this war."

Ukrainian men aged 18 to 60 are barred from leaving the country under martial law, but only those over 25 are eligible for the draft. The government is currently finalizing reforms to recruit 18- to 25-year-olds, aiming to make voluntary enlistment more appealing to younger citizens.

"We are defending ourselves today," Zelensky said.

"If tomorrow, for example, half of the army just goes home, then we should have surrendered on the first day. That's the way it is. Because if half the people go home tomorrow, (Russian President Vladimir) Putin will kill us all."

While Zelensky said the best way to bring soldiers home was to force Russia to end the war, he acknowledged that the Armed Forces require better policies on rotating and relieving personnel.

"They have rotations, or vacations. But certainly it is not enough," he said.

"Certainly we need to work on the quality of that."

Russian forces significantly outnumber Ukrainian units in some parts of the front and have been able to gain territory in eastern Ukraine while absorbing heavy losses.

Ukrainian authorities have faced criticism for aggressive forced mobilization tactics and for reportedly transferring skilled Air Force personnel into infantry units. At the same time, Zelensky has refused to lower the draft age to 18 despite increasing U.S. pressure to do so.

Magggggneto on January 28th, 2025 at 15:04 UTC »

Zelensky is not exaggerating. Putin and his thugs have been kidnapping, torturing, raping and murdering Ukrainian civilians and soldiers in the occupied territories. Putin is a terrorist as evil as any member of ISIS.

HotTubMike on January 28th, 2025 at 14:40 UTC »

Its popular on Reddit for people to denounce the Ukrainian draft but I don’t think those people realize if Russia wins, those young men are going to be drafted… but by the Russians… and they won’t care about your feelings on the subject…

sofie_enzo on January 28th, 2025 at 14:27 UTC »

Zelensky is in an impossible position here. Mobilization is brutal, but what's the alternative? Let Putin steamroll the country? Ukraine is literally fighting for survival, and unfortunately, that means making hard choices like ramping up recruitment. I get why people are upset about forced conscription and the lack of proper rotations, though it’s unfair to expect soldiers to endure these conditions indefinitely.

That said, I respect Zelensky for refusing to lower the draft age to 18, even under pressure. It shows he's trying to balance the needs of the war with some semblance of humanity. At the end of the day, this whole situation is just a grim reminder of what happens when one dictator decides to invade another country. Nobody wins.