KURSK, November 9. /TASS/. The Ukrainian authorities are gearing up for a long war by lowering the age for mobilization into the armed forces, an intelligence chief from the Akhmat special forces unit of the Russian Defense Ministry, who goes by the call sign Hades, told TASS.

"Nothing surprises me anymore, for one simple reason: we are witnessing them lowering the conscription age. I believe that soon they will start drafting 21-year-olds, and then 18-year-olds. <...> Once the age is lowered to 21, and then to 18, those who are currently 16 will be a ready-made reserve in a couple of years. In other words, they [the Ukrainian authorities] are preparing to fight us for quite a long time," the officer said.

Hades added that he would not be surprised if Ukraine also began drafting women. "Clearly, all those sweet-sounding claims about wanting peace or being 'tired' - that’s all just talk. The Ukrainian leadership intends to hold onto power at any cost, they couldn't care less about the price they’ll have to pay. And it is young Ukrainians - young men, the country's very gene pool - who are paying the price, simply because power has fallen into the wrong hands," he noted.

Since February 2022, martial law and general mobilization have been declared in Ukraine and repeatedly extended. Initially, men aged 27 to 60 were subject to conscription, but in April 2024, the draft age was lowered to 25. The Ukrainian authorities are seeking to replenish the ranks of the country's armed forces by any means necessary. In this context, the issue of lowering the mobilization age to 18 is periodically brought up in Ukraine. In February 2025, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, acting on the initiative of Vladimir Zelensky, announced that it would begin recruiting men aged 18 to 24 for contract military service. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova criticized this move as "a one-way ticket."