NSDC Deputy Secretary Serhiy Krivonos said that mass mobilization in Ukraine would lead to general desertion due to the low level of patriotism in the country.

So he commented on the words of Vladimir Zelensky that in the event of a total war with Russia, he is ready to mobilize all men and women.

“This circle tells the president that they are capable of doing it.

And we who went through this and saw it in our realities - we understand that even if theoretically we can mobilize women and men - are these people trained to hold weapons in their hands?

No.

Do these people want to do this?

No ”, - quotes the words of Krivonos nv.ua.

The deputy secretary of the NSDC, with the rank of major general, also noted that patriotism in Ukraine "is not supported at the state level."

As an example, he cited 2014, when many dodged the call to participate in the armed conflict in the east of the country.

“In our country, patriotism is not supported at the state level, and 2014 showed that a huge number went, but an even larger number fled from mobilization.

Escaped.

And 2018, when martial law was introduced, also showed that a huge number fled, ”Kryvonos recalled.

Earlier, in an interview with Focus, Vladimir Zelensky, in response to a journalist's question about a hypothetical situation in which Russia would attack Ukraine from the Crimea, announced his readiness to carry out total mobilization.

“Let's hope this is impossible.

Otherwise, there will be a big war.

We will not go anywhere, we will all fight, everyone will be mobilized - both men and women.

It will be bad for the Ukrainian population.

And I think Russia understands this very well, ”Zelensky said.

An army without soldiers

Recall that in 2013, Viktor Yanukovych, who was then president of Ukraine, signed a decree abolishing conscription and transferred the Armed Forces of Ukraine to a contract basis.

Yanukovych motivated this by the fact that complex military equipment requires a high level of training, so the army must be professional.

However, after a coup d'etat took place in Ukraine, the new authorities of the country returned the draft to the army.

The corresponding decree was signed on May 1, 2014 at that time by the acting.

President Alexander Turchinov.

During the presidency of Petro Poroshenko, the draft was preserved, but the draft age was raised from 18 to 20 years.

Zelensky later returned the draft from the age of 18.

However, the Ukrainian authorities faced widespread draft evasion.

So, in November 2017, the share of draft deviators was 40%, and in December it increased to 70%.

In October 2018, the military commissar of the Kiev garrison, Sergei Klyavin, told reporters that most of the conscripts ignored the summons.

The share of draft evaders from the total number of conscripts has reached 80%, the commissioner said.

A similar situation developed in other regions of the country.

To change this state of affairs, various measures and proposals were taken or considered in Ukraine, aimed at resolving the issue of staffing the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

So, in September 2018, the period during which conscripts could be called up for service was increased from two to three months.

This gave the military registration and enlistment offices additional time to search for draft evaders and to equip units with military personnel.

However, in November 2019, Andriy Zagorodnyuk, who served as the Minister of Defense of Ukraine, said that the country again intends to abandon military service and switch to a contract basis.

According to him, the draft army model "has no future", and therefore the defense department will present a roadmap for refusal from military service in 2020.

But in March 2020, after the resignation of the government, Andriy Zagorodnyuk left the post of head of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, and the roadmap he mentioned was never presented.

Vladimir Zelensky himself also made proposals to strengthen the combat capability of the Armed Forces of Ukraine - he, in particular, presented legislative initiatives to more actively involve reservists in the service.

In the summer of 2020, Zelensky held a meeting with representatives of the Council of Reservists of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, during which he announced a bill prepared by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine that allows, during a "special period", to call reservists to serve for up to six months without announcing mobilization.

  • Vladimir Zelensky

  • Reuters

  • © Valentyn Ogirenko

They have been talking about a "special period" in Ukraine since Zelenskiy came to power.

Last year, the first with such an initiative were the deputies of the Verkhovna Rada, now the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine speaks exactly the same thing.

But neither one nor the other has ever explained what is meant by the phrase "special period."

It is only clear that during this period of time, reservists can be called up for military service for a maximum of six months.

To motivate the reservists, another draft law was presented, which provided for preferential taxation for entrepreneurs, if they are called up for service during the mentioned "special period".

No military solution

Criticizing the president's words about general mobilization, Krivonos simultaneously admitted that “Ukraine will not be able to solve the problem (with the return of Crimea) by force,” since the Ukrainian Armed Forces do not have the necessary material and technical potential.

In his opinion, the only way to "return Crimea" is to strengthen sanctions against Russia.

  • Deputy Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Serhiy Krivonos

  • © president.gov.ua

Vladimir Olenchenko, senior researcher at the Center for European Studies at the IMEMO RAN, in an interview with RT, noted that the NSDC Deputy Secretary objectively assesses the level of patriotism and readiness of Ukrainians for total mobilization.

“There are many Gorlopanov, but there are really no people capable of generating beliefs and fighting for these beliefs.

The fact that the Ukrainian population will not fight is understandable, although the radicals call for total war, ”the expert noted.

At the same time, the statement made by Zelensky makes one think about the political immaturity of the President of Ukraine, Olenchenko added.

“The very statement of Zelensky is very childish and surprising.

It is so very immature, it is completely incomprehensible why it was made.

If this was a pretext to whip up an atmosphere of hypothetical hostility towards Russia, then even from this point of view it sounds somehow artificial, ”the political scientist believes.

However, such a public discussion can be a pretext for checking the reaction of society to such proposals from the authorities, Olenchenko said.

“Two versions should be considered here: either Zelenskiy said it in a rush, or this event was organized by the Ukrainian authorities in order to start a discussion in Ukrainian society about relations with Russia and understand how the Ukrainian population is ready to respond to all kinds of calls.

In politics, such things are often used: one expresses one point of view, while the other expresses a critical point of view in order to start a discussion of the issue in society, ”explained Vladimir Olenchenko.

In turn, Denis Denisov, director of the Institute for Peacekeeping Initiatives and Conflictology, believes that such criticism of Zelensky's words from the NSDC Deputy Secretary suggests that the President of Ukraine is not perceived as a serious political figure.

“Such statements once again confirm the fact that the Ukrainian president, even by a state official, is perceived as some very attributive figure with whom it is quite possible or necessary to enter into absentee discussions.

That is, the very fact of his position as supreme commander-in-chief apparently does not mean anything to such figures as deputy secretary of the NSDC, "Denisov said in a conversation with RT.

Mass evasion of appeals occurs in Ukraine because people do not see the point in the war, the political scientist emphasized.

“We saw this in 2014, in 2015, in 2016, in 2017.

We see this to this day.

Because Ukrainians do not understand why they are fighting and where they are being called.

For most of them, the goals of the Ukrainian state in the war with the Donbas are completely unclear.

Here is the answer to the question.

The overwhelming majority of people perceive these actions as nothing more than manipulations by politicians and big businessmen, ”concluded Denisov.