“We will come to that” – Muzhenko on lowering the mobilization age

General mobilization and lowering the mobilization age is the only way to solve the problem of exhaustion and rotation of Ukrainian servicemen, Viktor Muzhenko, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in 2014-2019, said in an interview with Radio Liberty.

“Unfortunately, it is. We will come to that. The question from the age of 18 or from the age of 20 is another question. The question, if the approaches are not changed, for example, the involvement of representatives of the security forces, part of those people who are conscripted, and are already, let’s say, pensioners of the security forces, – the possibility of rotation in these structures so that younger, more energetic and more suitable to be sent to combat military units,” said the former head of the commissar.

According to him, this will help solve this problem or “delay” it for a certain period, provided that the level of losses in the army is maintained as it is today, and the assumption that such losses will not increase in the future.

Muzhenko also emphasized that in order to carry out general mobilization, it is necessary to promote the prestige of the military in society and provide motivation to the mobilized.

“But this is a matter of propaganda. Question: What is the personal motivation of people? They look at the attitude towards the military. Military personnel are perceived in a completely different way. They are already hindering us, soon it will be that “we didn’t send you there” and so on,” he said.

At the beginning of December, the representative of the US State Department, Matthew Miller, said that if the mobilization age is lowered to 18 in Ukraine, then all recruits will be provided with full equipment.

Volodymyr Zelenskyi, commenting on Miller’s words, emphasized on December 10 that Ukraine should not compensate for the lack of equipment and training with young soldiers, so it is necessary to focus on providing the existing brigades. The head of state noted that “the priority should be the supply of missiles and the reduction of Russia’s military potential, not the reduction of the conscription age in Ukraine.”

Before that, in November, Western media reported that the administration of current US President Joe Biden is urging Ukraine to revise the mobilization legislation with the aim of conscripting people from the age of 18 and rapidly increasing the number of armed forces.

The legislation of Ukraine provides for the mobilization of conscripts aged 25 to 60.