Zelenskyy: Lowering mobilization age will only increase number of unarmed soldiers

Currently, under Ukrainian law, only men aged 25 and older can be drafted into the military, and even then, there are exceptions that limit the recruitment of individuals into the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

As Bloomberg notes, officials from the US and other Western allies have been urging Ukraine for some time to lower the draft age, while Zelenskyy insists that weapons and missiles are needed more than a larger number of soldiers.

"Why mobilize even younger people? So that there are even more people without weapons?" Zelenskyy said in an interview with Bloomberg in Davos.

Lowering the mobilization age

At the end of last year, it became known that the United States had repeatedly urged Ukraine to lower the mobilization age to 18. The US believes that the main problem facing the Ukrainian army is the lack of personnel.

At the same time, an advisor to the Economic Development Committee of the Verkhovna Rada mentioned the alleged lowering of the mobilization age in Ukraine in 2025. However, this information turned out to be fake.

Moreover, a fake about the lowering of the mobilization age was spread online, but it was refuted by both the Rada and the National Guard of Ukraine (NGU).

Zelenskyy had noted at the time that he was opposed to such an initiative. According to him, age does not matter when Ukrainian soldiers still lack weapons.

Instead, a member of the Rada's Defense Committee, Fedir Venislavskyi, emphasized that Ukraine cannot win the war started by Russia by simply increasing the size of its armed forces.

He stressed that, for victory, Ukraine's partners need to provide high-tech weaponry and long-range missiles capable of targeting objects on enemy territory.