Zelenskyy on mobilization from age 18: Without weapons, age doesn’t matter
Photo: Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine (Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
Ukraine lacks enough weapons to equip all its existing brigades, which makes the age of soldiers a secondary consideration, stated President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a press conference.
"Regarding (lowering the draft - ed.) age: please tell me, if a person stands before you without a weapon, does it matter whether they are 20 or 30 years old? There is no difference. Our partners focus on the physical capabilities of a particular soldier, while we are focused on the fact that we have brigades with no equipment," the head of state emphasized.
He reminded that Ukraine had discussed with its partners the training of at least 12 Ukrainian brigades on their territories. This initiative was supposed to be launched by the United States and European allies. They were to divide responsibilities for where each brigade would be trained.
"Today, we have one brigade trained in France and one being trained in Germany. If we have two brigades from this block, we are talking about weapons, not people. There are not enough weapons, not people. Of course, we also don’t have enough people, but equipping the brigades is critical," Zelenskyy clarified.
Lowering the draft age
Back in October, Advisor to the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Serhiy Leshchenko noted that US officials were pressuring President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to lower the draft age to 18. However, the Ukrainian leader is against it.
Later, the President confirmed that such signals from partners had indeed been received. According to Zelenskyy, it is important to pay attention to the technological capabilities of the army, not the age of the soldier.
Read more about the issue of mobilization from the age of 18 in the material by RBC-Ukraine.
