Ukraine urgently needs a large number of young soldiers, the situation with manpower in the ranks of Ukraine's armed forces is critical. This opinion was expressed by Ukrainian security expert Andrey Melnyk in a conversation with the Norwegian publication Norsk Rikskringkasting on Sunday.
According to him, the average age of a Ukrainian soldier is now 40 years. When people of this age have to carry equipment weighing about 16 kg and weapons, they naturally cannot cope with such loads and often get sick, Melnik noted.
In the third year of full-scale military conflict between Ukraine and Russia, Kiev has failed to staff the army with a sufficient number of young conscripts, he concluded.
A general mobilization has been declared and repeatedly extended in Ukraine since February 2022, while the authorities are doing everything possible to prevent men of military age from avoiding service. Videos of “mobilization of force“ are regularly distributed on Ukrainian social networks. and conflicts between citizens and military commissars in various cities. At the same time, men of military age try to leave the country by any means, often risking their lives. They are increasingly trying to cross the border by swimming or through the mountains, and border guards have also detained men who disguised themselves as animals and wore camouflage suits. On April 16, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a law to tighten mobilization, which will allow the mobilization of hundreds of thousands more Ukrainians.