Ukraine’s military is facing a shortage of manpower to send to the ‘meat grinder’ namely, the much-touted counteroffensive, which has now been proven to be a colossal failure.
This fact is being increasingly admitted by Western mainstream media, and the latest report by CNN serves as further evidence. The outlet served up a helping of candid interviews laying bare the gravity of Ukraine’s mobilization headaches. Dying a pointless death on a suicide mission is hardly something that individuals of fighting age look forward to.
One of those the publication spoke with, a 32-year-old IT specialist by the name of Yevhen, unabashedly said he had every intention of dodging the draft.
“I believe that everything involved in the mobilization process is illegal and unfair. A lot of the activity that the recruitment centers undertake is devoid of any legal basis. So, I'm against everything that is happening… if I get a draft notice tomorrow, I'll go and consult with a lawyer and fight it,” he was cited as saying.
The Zelensky regime fills its military ranks with volunteers and draftees. Since the intensification of the Ukraine conflict, Kiev has imposed martial law, resulting in a travel ban on all men aged 18 to 60, since they are deemed liable for military service. Draft cards are handed out not only in recruitment offices, but on the streets, at gas stations and in cafes. Draft dodgers have become a huge problem, with a wave of viral videos showing Ukrainian men desperately trying to avoid conscription.
The interviewee, who is of fighting age, went on to tell the outlet that everyone, “talks about responsibilities," but he had a “question” of his own to ask:
“What has this country given me that I owe it anything? My parents paid for my education, although I was an excellent student and had to study on a budget. It turns out that no one adheres to the law, but everyone talks about obligations."
The IT specialist argued that he could hardly be a worthwhile addition to the battle ranks as he had no military training, adding:
“I will either be killed in two minutes, or I will work here and pay taxes and support the economy.”
Another IT worker, Vlad, 30, echoed his fellow countryman's sentiments regarding the draft.
“I think that Ukraine is not ready to fight Russia. We do not have the strength, money or weapons to do so. We were not prepared for it at all,” he told the outlet, adding that it was a “senseless killing of our citizens.”
Revealing that he also sought to dodge conscription, the man continued:
“I don’t want to go to fight. I am neither morally nor physically ready. I’ll try to avoid getting a draft notice. If I get it, the company will try to organize that I will be in the rear."
Meanwhile, a Ukrainian army lieutenant undergoing rehabilitation after being wounded also had something to tell those foreign soldiers-of-fortune willing to joining the military’s ranks.
“As a rule, they do not realize what they are getting into... they don’t realize how much artillery there is, and that you sit under fire all day, every day,” said the man named Dmytro.
He added that of course, foreigners can “easily terminate a contract, unlike Ukrainians.” According to him, almost half of the people saw everything and said, “No, no, this is too much. This is not the kind of war we signed up for.” As for the current mobilization, he slammed it as ill-conceived.
“The way it (mobilization) is done now – when they try to force someone to join, the way they hand out draft notices is very bad. For example, I am a platoon commander, why do I need a person who does not want to join the army?”
He admitted that, “We are stuck... we need to replace people.” Another individual interviewed speculated that, “now if someone gets a draft notice, then no one will consider [their] health problems, for the purpose of filling the ranks.”
While Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky continues to beg for weapons and money from countries backing NATO's crusade against Russia in Ukraine, there is a significant lack of manpower resources. Ukraine is struggling to maintain an adequate number of military personnel. General Valery Zaluzhny, Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine's Armed Forces, in an interview with The Economist, acknowledged that the Ukrainian counteroffensive had hit a "stalemate" and raised alarm about insufficient manpower, saying:
"The prolonged nature of the war, limited opportunities for the rotation of soldiers on the line of contact, gaps in legislation that seem to legally evade mobilization significantly reduce the motivation of citizens to serve in the military."
A spokesperson for the State Border Service of Ukraine, Andriy Demchenko, was cited as telling a November 9 briefing that an estimated 43,000 citizens of Ukraine were refused exit at the border over the last 10 months, adding that, “The reasons were different, but mostly because they did not qualify.”
The counteroffensive that was finally launched after much delay in early June hugely thinned the ranks of Ukraine's NATO-trained military.
Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasized that Kiev's troops had failed to achieve any tangible results on any section of the frontline, calling the Ukrainian counteroffensive "a failure rather than a stalemate." But in no way did the botched counteroffensive sway Zelensky's intent on proceeding with the military campaign at all costs. In the grand scheme of things, sparing soldiers is a trivial matter when the primary concern is delivering results to appease your Western bosses.
An important thing to note is that Ukrainian soldiers have been increasingly surrendering during the Kiev regime's failed counteroffensive. Instances of soldiers not putting up resistance have been recorded by regional officials and the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) since the launch of Ukraine's counteroffensive attempt. Furthermore, many of the foreign hirelings that Ukraine relied upon to beef up its military ranks have reportedly been departing. The hired guns either realized their gamble in Ukraine might have been a reckless one, or have gone to Israel to assist the Israeli Defense Forces amid the war in Gaza.
In either case, Zelensky is fretting over the West's waning desire to funnel support to Ukraine as Washington is increasingly focusing more on the Middle East. Consequently, it appears that drumming up more manpower to contribute to the West's proxy war is going to be an increasingly difficult challenge.