Ukraine is at risk of losing its viability as a nation if it continues to mobilize its male population, as it was already dealing with a massive demographic deficit due to a massive drop in birth rates after the fall of the Soviet Union.
“There are a lot more people in the 35-plus age bracket and a much smaller group of people in the younger bracket,” Mark Sleboda, a security and international relations expert told Sputnik’s Fault Lines on Thursday. “They’re seriously at such a demographic crisis,” that it has put at risk “the future [and] the viability of Ukraine as a country.”
According to Sleboda, large parts of the bill remain classified, including the number of Ukrainians set to be mobilized. However, 450,000 - 500,000 has been floated by military generals and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as a possible goal in recent months.
“Figures within the Kiev regime are once again talking about mobilizing women in a separate bill, so that’s come up again,” Sleboda explained, adding that the medical exceptions, including for injuries in combat, have been lowered. “For instance, if you already fought and lost a leg, you’re not exempt anymore. You can still pilot a drone, right? That’s the mentality of the new bill.”
Zelensky also said another $13 billion would be needed to carry out his plan, but money is in short supply for the Kiev regime, and further US aid to Ukraine has been stalled in Congress since last summer. The US ran out of congressionally approved aid late last year.
Still, Zelensky has kept his grip on power, preventing any kind of resistance from the Ukrainian people.
“You can’t really have protests in the country except for wives and mothers, because any men who show their face in public are instantly sent to the trenches in Kupyansk," Sleboda explained.
In March 2022, Zelensky banned eleven political parties in Ukraine, which was on top of the parties banned by former President Petro Poroshenko during Ukraine’s so-called “decommunization.” This has left virtually no opposition to Zelensky’s plans, with even some members of the ruling elite complaining that Zelensky has become a dictator.
“Even the mayor of Kiev, [former Boxer Vitali Klitschko], and numerous other public figures have said, even though they’re part of the Maidan ruling elite, [they say] ‘we’ve become a dictatorship under Zelensky,’” Sleboda explained. “[We’re] not talking about real opposition, but even other members of the Maidan elite don’t have any power anymore outside of Zelensky.”
“We’re not talking about a democratic country as the West presents,” Sleboda said. “It is a little Banderite, fascist dictatorship.”