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There is no one to replace troops at the front line due to struggling draft efforts, Anna Skorokhod has lamented
Demobilization in Ukraine is out of the question, lawmaker Anna Skorokhod has said, citing significant challenges in fulfilling Kiev’s current campaign to draft new recruits to fight Russia.
In an interview with the Novyny Live outlet on Wednesday, Skorokhod stressed that Kiev is unable to initiate demobilization because “we are failing at mobilization.”
“We are not carrying out mobilization plans as they are today, and demobilization will simply be critical for the commander-in-chief, because the boys on the front line, according to him, cannot be replaced,” she added.
The problem is exacerbated because “the officer corps barely participates in combat,” Skorokhod emphasized, explaining that officers cannot legally be appointed to lower positions, which complicates personnel issues.
“As a result, most of the soldiers fighting on the front lines are mobilized individuals who had no prior connection to the military before the full-scale invasion,” the lawmaker said.
Ukraine’s mobilization campaign began in February 2022 following the escalation of the conflict with Russia. It has since faced numerous hurdles, including widespread bribery and draft dodging. To address manpower shortages, Ukraine earlier this year lowered the draft age from 27 to 25 and tightened mobilization rules.
Despite those measures, Ukrainian commanders continue to complain about a lack of personnel, leading to long rotations and battle fatigue, with some citing these factors as the key reason behind Russian advances on the battlefield.
The draft law on mobilization originally included provisions on demobilization, but these were removed from the final version of the legislation. Ukrainian lawmakers promised in April to introduce a stand-alone document on the issue within the next eight months, a deadline they have missed. Deputy Defense Minister Ivan Gavriluk claimed that the draft was almost ready, but could not be submitted to parliament because the military had not yet accumulated the necessary manpower reserves to replace those who would be demobilized.
Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov said earlier this month that Ukraine had lost 1 million service members since February 2022, with more than half of that number coming in 2024 alone.
