Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky does not want to send 18-year-olds to the front

Volodymyr Zelensky In his Tuesday entry on the X platform, he wrote that “there is a lot of talk in the media about lowering the draft age for Ukrainians sent to the front.” “We must focus on equipping existing brigades with equipment and training soldiers in how to use this equipment,” the president said Ukraineadding that the lack of equipment and training cannot be compensated with “youth” mobilized.

The president added that “the priority should be missile deliveries and reducing Russia's military potential, not lowering the age of conscription in Ukraine.” “The goal should be to save as many lives as possible, not to store weapons in warehouses,” he emphasized in the post.

The website Ukrainska Pravda wrote that in November the administration of the outgoing president USA Joe Biden called on Ukraine to change its regulations on mobilization in order to conscript people from the age of 18 into the army and to quickly increase the number of armed forces.

The Associated Press agency then quoted a Biden administration official who claimed that this resulted from “pure mathematics” regarding the situation on the front and personnel problems of the Ukrainian armed forces.

In October this year, the Ukrainian parliament banned the mobilization of men under 25 years of age. The changes were supported by 311 deputies in the 450-seat Verkhovna Rada.

Earlier, Serhiy Leshchenko, an adviser to the head of the presidential office, wrote on Telegram that “American politicians from both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party are putting pressure on Zelensky to lower the age of mobilization of Ukrainians to 18.”

At the end of September this year, in an interview with Sky News, Zelensky said that Ukraine cannot send young people to the front without appropriate weapons. The president then emphasized that “allies are talking about increasing mobilization, but the real problem remains the lack of weapons.” He recalled that over a year ago, Kyiv applied for equipment for 10 brigades of the Ukrainian armed forces. “So far, Western partners have managed to equip only two and a half brigades,” Zelensky said.