The expansion of the recruitment of soldiers for war and the strategy for it have widened the gap between the head of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhni and President Volodymyr Zelensky. General Zaluzhni challenged the Ukrainian leader this Tuesday by criticizing the government's strategy of expanding conscription conditions to combat Russian aggression. “I am not satisfied with the work of the [oficinas de reclutamiento]Zaluzhni opened at a rare press conference in Kiev. Russia's war against Ukraine has become a battle of attrition and as it enters its third year of fighting, few volunteers want to go to the front, while Russia has launched several waves of forced conscription.
Zaluzhni was once again very critical of the situation in Ukraine this Tuesday. “I made a mistake when I thought that this would be a factor for Russia to stop the losses we caused them,” the armed forces chief said. This is the second public confrontation between the army chief and Zelensky. A few weeks ago, Zaluzhni admitted in The Economist that the situation on the front had stagnated, that it was very difficult for Ukraine to move forward, and that the counteroffensive had failed. He also criticized that the pace of recruitment was too slow. The government categorically denied his words. In addition, Zelensky stressed last week that Zaluzhni, whose popularity has soared in recent months while the president's has fallen following the failure of the counteroffensive on which Kiev and its allies had pinned high hopes, was also responsible for the results on the battlefield is responsible.
The new public disagreement between two of the main figures in Ukraine's leadership comes as Zelensky's executive presented a war decree in the Rada (Ukrainian parliament) seeking to increase the number of soldiers in the army. The proposed regulation, which is being discussed and amended, expands the conditions and characteristics of men who can be conscripted – women only volunteer – and lowers the minimum age for conscription from 27 to 25 years.
Last week, at the annual press conference where he reviewed the situation in the country, Zelensky assured that the army had requested up to half a million more recruits for the mobilization, but stressed that the number and conditions still had to be discussed. However, Zaluzhni assured this Tuesday that the figure is only a general plan that will be covered gradually. “I can’t say how much: it’s a military secret,” the Bundeswehr chief stated in the televised conference. This will be a “figure that includes the compensation of losses, the formation of new units and the replacement of possible losses in the next year”. The head of the armed forces also said that he was leaving the idea of recruiting Ukrainians abroad in the hands of the government, as the Defense Ministry had been considering.
For Ukraine, increasing military personnel is a priority. Kiev has not released information on how many people make up its multi-unit armed forces, but specialist analysts estimated that number at one million at the start of the full-scale war. Since then, the Ukrainian army has suffered losses. Unlike the first phases of the invasion, not many soldiers are now enlisting. In most cities far from the war front, the war doesn't feel the same. In addition, several cases of corruption among recruiting managers in several regions who received bribes in exchange for time off duty have sowed outrage, but this does not help to swell the ranks.
On the Donbass front in eastern Ukraine, the vast majority of soldiers have not taken leave to return home for months. Many are exhausted. “It will be very hard, the physical and mental exhaustion is sometimes overwhelming,” admits Kostya, a tank driver, in a coffee kiosk full of military personnel a few kilometers from the Bakhmut front, one of the most active.
Join EL PAÍS to follow all the news and read without restrictions.
Subscribe to
Russia, on the other hand, has stabilized, completed strong defensive measures and continues to send waves of soldiers into attacks against the Ukrainian line, pushing to gain a few meters head start. Ukrainian analysts and military officials claim Moscow is using its own soldiers as bait. Ukraine defends that it can only reach a turning point in the battle with new, more powerful and technologically superior weapons from its allies. But the EU, which hopes to approve a special 50 billion euro aid package to keep Ukraine afloat and help the country cover current expenses, is struggling with its own problems producing munitions at this pace that Ukraine needs. In addition, the weapons that Member States have sent to Ukraine so far have only barely covered the needs. The United States is a similar case. Due to internal conflicts (particularly from the Republicans), 50 billion euros are currently blocked in Washington (part of this could be used for defense spending).
Follow all international information on Facebook and Xor in our weekly newsletter.
Limited time special offer
Subscribe to continue reading
Read without limits
_