Ukraine will have to mobilize even more citizens if the United States stops providing military assistance to Kyiv or reduces its volume, said the head of the Servant of the People faction in the Verkhovna Rada, David Arakhamia.
“If there is less help (from the US -
RT
), we will need to mobilize more people.
If there is more help, then the armament ratio increases.
Then we need fewer people.
Because you can cover some sections of the front with conventional weapons and you don’t need so many people,” the politician said.
Let us remind you that the US Congress has been unable to approve additional funds for financing Ukraine for several months.
Kyiv has repeatedly called on Washington to resolve this issue as soon as possible.
At a security conference in Munich in February, Vladimir Zelensky even said that Ukraine would cease to consider the United States a strategic ally if Congress did not allocate money for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Arakhamia also called the continuation of mobilization inevitable for Kyiv, since the Armed Forces of Ukraine are experiencing a shortage of personnel.
“I believe that in general we have no choice: we need to mobilize, or we don’t.
Because we have a large shortage of brigades.
There are teams where the set is up to 40%.
That is, we may not mobilize at all, then the front may break through, and even if you send a million people, it will be too late,” the politician noted.
In addition, according to him, taxes will be changed in the country to finance the training and equipment of the mobilized.
David Arakhamia
AFP
© MICHAEL BUHOLZER / KEYSTONE
Analysts note that the shortage of personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which Arakhamia said, is primarily caused by high losses at the front.
“But this is not the only reason and not the only problem.
The flight of male citizens of military age abroad has also become a headache for Kyiv.
Moreover, it began a very long time ago, long before the Northern Military District,” Nikolai Mezhevich, chief researcher at the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said in a commentary to RT.
At the same time, he believes that Arakhamia’s words about the need to expand conscription if the United States refuses to continue to provide assistance indicate that the Ukrainian Armed Forces, in such a development of events, will “plug the holes” at the front with manpower.
“This is an attempt to change the situation at the front through total mobilization of both men and women.
And I would not rule out the option in which sooner or later Kyiv, following the example of Nazi Germany, will reach the point of conscripting minors,” the political scientist added.
Tightening mobilization
It is worth noting that Arakhamia’s statements were made against the backdrop of ongoing controversy in Ukraine around a new law on tightening mobilization.
The government submitted the initial version of this document to parliament at the end of December 2023.
At the same time, Zelensky said that the leadership of the Armed Forces of Ukraine requested the mobilization of an additional 500 thousand people.
The document of the Cabinet of Ministers proposed, in particular, to abolish military service with the dismissal of all conscripts to the reserve - instead of it, combined arms training should be introduced at all educational institutions lasting up to three months.
The maximum conscription age was planned to be reduced from 27 to 25 years.
The document also abolished deferments for disabled people of group III, made it possible to send summonses electronically and limit the rights of draft dodgers, including those who left the country.
The bill caused criticism in the Verkhovna Rada and society.
The media reported that there were disagreements on this issue between Zelensky and the then commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhny.
As a result, the government had to withdraw the bill.
At the end of January, the Cabinet of Ministers sent its updated version to parliament, which passed its first reading on February 7.
As Rada deputy Alexey Goncharenko reported on February 21, the second reading is scheduled for March 6.
The bill retained many of the measures that appeared in the original version.
In particular, the document continues to provide for the introduction of electronic summonses and the possibility of limiting the rights of draft dodgers.
Any consular services to men between 18 and 60 years of age living abroad will be provided only if they have military registration documents.
All those liable for military service who have been found to be of limited fitness will be required to undergo a second medical examination within nine months.
The deferment from mobilization for persons receiving a second higher education is also cancelled.
In addition, citizens of Ukraine will be required to present a military ID at the first request of military registration and enlistment office employees and police officers.
In case of refusal, violators will be taken to territorial acquisition centers (TCC).
Men of military age who fail to appear at the TCC within ten days of receiving the summons face various financial sanctions.
For example, the court may seize their bank accounts and restrict their right to drive a car.
In addition to this, the military command may temporarily restrict the departure of citizens from the country.
The authors of the bill also propose to allow the mobilization of convicts.
Minister of Justice Denis Malyuska has already reported that thousands of Ukrainian citizens with a criminal record have allegedly expressed a desire to join the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
According to him, it is now possible to mobilize at least 50 thousand people with a criminal record.
"Terror on the streets"
While the Ukrainian authorities are developing a new law on mobilization, the country continues to replenish the Armed Forces of Ukraine in accordance with the existing legislation.
This process has not stopped since 2022.
Within its framework, representatives of the TCC launched a real hunt for those liable for military service.
Subpoenas are served on the streets, in transport and other public places.
Protesters hold signs that read, “My husband and father gave time to others to prepare.
Time to change the first,” “Demobilization dates are important for everyone: for those who are fighting, for those who will fight, and for those who are waiting,” and others during a rally in Kyiv in January
AP
© Alex Babenko
Often, TCC employees violate legal norms, even to the point of beating those liable for military service.
This practice is called terror even in parliament.
In particular, Rada deputy Yegor Chernev noted that the methods of work of the TCC harm the very idea of mobilization.
“The TCC terror on the streets discredited the idea of mobilization, lowered the morale of society and undermined the unity in the state.
This needs to stop as soon as possible, but we need real and effective alternatives.
We are working on this issue, in particular, now,” he said.
Videos are increasingly appearing in the media and social networks in which the population resists TCC employees.
According to analysts, such cases could sooner or later result in large-scale social protest.
“I believe that cases of collective resistance will be observed more and more often, the movement will expand.
First of all, this will happen in a province where the rural population predominates.
There will be growing resistance there for the simple reason that they are less bound by any political obligations and are more interested in normal well-being, in usual economic and social activities,” Vladimir Olenchenko, senior researcher at the Center for European Studies at IMEMO RAS, said in an interview with RT.
He believes that Kyiv is still delaying the adoption of a new law on mobilization, fearing protests.
“The Kyiv regime has serious reasons to fear revolutionary outbursts.
After all, many locally do not agree with the plans of the authorities, so in the regions a sharp reaction of the population to the new bill cannot be ruled out,” the specialist concluded.