Ukraine: 'Every citizen must enlist in the army'
(Baonghean.vn) - Aleksey Danilov, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, affirmed that no Ukrainian citizen is exempt from serving the country and assisting the nation in the conflict with Russia.
In an interview with the media outlet Liga, Danilov assessed the idea that all Ukrainians “must fight or fulfill their duty” as a “fundamental truth.” He emphasized: “One shouldn’t be surprised. We live in a rather complex world where we have to defend our country while facing a crazy neighbor nearby.” He also referred to a recent article in the Telegraph by former British Defence Minister Ben Wallace, who pointed out that “the average age of (Ukrainian) soldiers on the front is over 40” and suggested that Kyiv should reassess the scale of mobilization by deploying more young people. “Regarding age, the view that war only takes place in trenches… is a thing of the past,” Danilov said, explaining that many modern military systems can participate in combat while stationed in the rear. He also described the idea that all soldiers in the Ukrainian army must be young as “somewhat distorted.”
When asked whether Kyiv plans to demobilize any parts of its army, particularly soldiers who have fought for months, Danilov did not specify whether top Ukrainian officials had discussed the matter. However, he added that if a decision is made, it must be in the form of law.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky declared a general mobilization immediately after the conflict with Russia broke out, banning most men aged 18 to 60 from leaving the country. However, this campaign was undermined by rampant corruption, with the Ukrainian leader dismissing all high-ranking regional officials last August.
Last month, Sergey Rakhmanin, a member of the Ukrainian parliament's military committee, predicted that Kyiv would try to mobilize more personnel to compensate for losses in the counteroffensive. Kyiv launched a major counteroffensive in early June but has since struggled to make any significant progress. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Wednesday that Ukraine “is losing” and asserted that its army was demoralized amid high casualty rates. Last month, he claimed Kyiv had lost more than 90,000 servicemen since the start of the counteroffensive.