Ukraine on Wednesday lowered the military conscription age from 27 to 25 in an effort to replenish its depleted ranks after more than two years of war following Russia’s full-scale invasion.
The new mobilization law came into force a day after Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed it. Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, passed it last year.
It was not immediately clear why Zelenskyy took so long to sign the measure into law. He didn’t make any public comment about it, and officials did not say how many new soldiers the country expected to gain or for which units.
Conscription has been a sensitive matter in Ukraine for many months amid a growing shortage of infantry on top of a severe ammunition shortfall that has handed Russia the battlefield initiative. Russia’s own problems with manpower and planning have so far prevented it from taking full advantage of its edge.
I’ve actually considered joining the foreign legion. The commander seems fucking sketchy and not very brilliant strategically, that unnecessary risks his men. It wouldn’t be a terrible idea to actually have nato commanders directing back line logistics and training.
Training is done by nato.
So I’ve had a few beers. The problem is nato is training is combined arms. Ukraine can’t do that. We expect to control the air and nato tactics are designed around that.
Ukraine seems to be following Baltic strategic suggestions. Technically NATO, just not the mainstream doctrine. But it makes sense that e.g. Estonians have thought more about how to fight the Russians on a back foot than American generals.