An army at the end of its rope.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree on Thursday authorizing the demobilization of conscripts who joined the army before Russia's February 2022 invasion and have already completed their service, at a time when recruitment is a particularly sensitive issue.
This concerns conscripts whose military service was extended when it should have ended between February 24, 2022, when martial law was declared in response to Russia's offensive, and today, according to a decree published by the presidency.
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Authorities did not say how many people were affected.
Volodymyr Zelensky, in his daily message to the nation, stressed that this process would require “a few weeks of preparation procedures”.
The conscripts should be demobilized “starting in April,” he said.
The people concerned will join the reserve but can also, if they wish, remain in the army.
“I know that some of them have already signed a contract to serve in the armed forces,” said Volodymyr Zelensky, again without giving figures.
The army struggles to find volunteers
The question of recruitment to replace soldiers exhausted by two years of war has become a hot political and societal subject in recent months.
Despite the need for renewal, the army is struggling to find volunteers.
Especially at a time when it is running out of ammunition and facing a surge of Russian forces on all fronts.
At the beginning of February, parliament voted in first reading for a bill to facilitate enlistment, which would make it possible to replace physically and psychologically worn-out soldiers, but it is sparking lively debate.
This text, which can still be modified, plans in particular to lower the age at which one can be mobilized from 27 to 25 years or even to limit military service to 36 months in time of war.
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This prospect worries many, as Ukrainian social networks are full of videos on which we can see the muscular enlistment of young men as well as information on the location of police officers distributing summons in public places.