Equipping troops takes precedence over decreasing draft age, Zelensky says

Ukraine's fast focus is on adequately equipping its army, somewhat than additional lowering the draft age, President Volodymyr Zelensky stated on Jan. 14, in keeping with Interfax-Ukraine.

"Once we speak about growing the variety of our folks (within the army), we should first deal with the problem of adequately equipping our brigades. Our companions have all these requests," Zelensky stated.

Zelensky famous that Ukraine fields over 100 brigades, all requiring sustained staffing and constant resupply of kit to keep up their fight effectiveness.

The remarks comply with experiences that U.S. lawmakers and NATO allies are urging Ukraine to decrease its draft age from 25 to 18 to handle manpower shortages. U.S. President Joe Biden's administration has reportedly advocated for the transfer as a part of broader efforts to handle Ukraine's personnel wants on the full-scale warfare with Russia stretches into its third yr.

Nonetheless, Kyiv has resisted the proposal, citing considerations over gear shortages and the financial affect of drafting youthful staff.

Beneath martial legislation, males aged 18 to 60 are prohibited from leaving Ukraine, however solely these aged 25 and older are eligible for the draft.

The Ukrainian authorities lowered the draft age from 27 to 25 in April 2024, including 50,000 troops to its forces. Whereas the measure bolstered numbers, it fell wanting assembly the army’s full necessities.

As US pushes Ukraine to lower conscription age, why won’t Kyiv draft younger men?Editor’s note: this article was updated to reflect incoming U.S. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz’s comments on the topic. When looking at Ukraine’s Armed Forces, there is one thing that stands out — it is made up predominantly of older men. Ukraine has never publicly released information ab…The Kyiv IndependentElsa Court