2024-03-13 09:24:12
Ukrainian army units have launched their own recruitment campaign for new soldiers. “Finding young guys aged 25 to 30 is impossible. There is a fight for them between the brigades. Young people have more stamina and fewer illnesses,” explains a Ukrainian soldier from the 93rd Brigade.
The soldiers took matters into their own hands. They are recruiting new volunteers themselves | Video: Radio Free Europe
Also due to the fact that the war is still dragging on and has been going on for more than two years now, it is very difficult to find more volunteers to fight on the front lines. “What’s missing the most are motivated people. We created a website where there is a recruitment campaign for civilians that works on a volunteer basis,” explains Sergeant Ivan Burjak of the 93rd Brigade.
The unit therefore shows potential recruits what military life is like. Volunteers undergo basic combat training and try to live like soldiers on the front. Then they can decide for themselves if they want to sign up. According to the soldiers of the 93rd Brigade, their recruitment methods are effective.
“Unfortunately, due to a number of bureaucratic circumstances in the government, our team cannot react and do everything faster. The war changes every minute. We were on the battlefield and our potential fighters must learn about these changes immediately,” Burjak describes, adding that it will still take months before their recruitment shows up at the front.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi and his top military commanders promise international partners that Ukraine can handle the fighting if it receives the necessary weapons and other support. However, Kiev has yet to come up with a clear plan to call up or recruit the many thousands of new soldiers that are absolutely necessary to defend against Russia’s continued attacks.
The question of how to replenish the ranks presented Zelensky with perhaps the biggest challenge to his leadership since the beginning of the invasion in February 2022, writes the American newspaper Washington Post. The absence of a clear mobilization strategy, as well as an agreement on how many soldiers Ukraine still needs, was reflected in the dismissal of top general Valery Zaluzhny in February. However, the new Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskij has not yet made any concrete proposals.
Syrskyi was tasked with conducting an audit of the existing armed forces to find more combat-fit soldiers after Zelenskyi’s office recently announced that only about 300,000 of the one million mobilized people were fighting at the front. Even as Syrsky tries to find more soldiers capable of fighting, almost a month after his promotion, no one from the military leadership or the presidential administration has explained where the 700,000 soldiers are or what they have been doing so far.
The Russians took a shot at their own lack of artistry late. He recklessly destroys his key weapons (link to article with video here)
Footage of the Ukrainian attack on the Russian ship Sergej Kotov. | Video: Aktuálně.cz/Telegram/Main Directorate of Intelligence