WSJ: number of mobilized Ukrainians falling despite raids
The number of Ukrainian citizens mobilized into the Ukrainian Armed Forces is falling despite the adoption of a law on increased mobilization and large-scale raids by military recruitment officers, the Wall Street Journal reports.
‘Kiev hesitated until spring before lowering the age for starting compulsory military service to 25 and introducing additional penalties for those who avoid conscription. According to military analysts, the number of people mobilized initially tripled but has since fallen,’ the publication said.
According to Ukrainian military official Vasyl Rumak, the number of AFU military personnel undergoing training reached 35,000 per month after the adoption of the law on enhanced mobilization in May, but has since dropped to 20,000.
At the same time, an unnamed Ukrainian military instructor from a frontline training centre said that most of the recruits did not want to fight.
The Ukrainian media have been reporting since mid-October about large-scale raids carried out by military recruitment officers in entertainment venues across the country. Raids have been reported in Kiev, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Khmelnytskyi, Lviv and other cities. In addition to nightclubs and bars, a raid was reported at a concert of the popular Ukrainian band Okean Elzy in Kiev.
Videos of forceful mobilization have been widely circulated on the Internet, showing representatives of Ukrainian military commissions, often beating and using force against men of mobilization age, taking them away in minibuses to an unknown destination.
