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Ukraine’s mobilization campaign only serving to replenish troops — Putin

"According to our data, they are drafting 30,000 people [a month]; the number stood at 50,000-55,000 last year and the year before," he pointed out

ST. PETERSBURG, June 5. /TASS/. Ukraine’s mobilization campaign is only serving to replenish troops and the US insists on reducing the draft age to 18 years, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a TASS-hosted meeting with the heads of international news agencies.

"According to our data, they are drafting 30,000 people [a month]; the number stood at 50,000-55,000 last year and the year before. However, this is not solving the problem. You know why? Because the mobilization campaign is only covering losses; it can only replenish losses," he pointed out.

"This is a crucial issue that is leading to the reduction of the draft age. It has been reduced from 27 to 25 years, and we know it all from Ukraine as it’s a secret; there are no secrets at all. The US administration insists on gradually reducing the draft age from 25 to 23 years, then to 20 years and finally to 18 years. Or to 18 years at once," Puin added.

Mobilization in Ukraine

Ukraine announced a general mobilization in February 2022, which it has extended periodically ever since, with the country’s authorities doing their utmost to prevent men of conscription age from dodging the draft, including a ban on male residents of Ukraine from leaving the country. On May 18, a law tightening mobilization rules came into force in Ukraine, allowing hundreds of thousands more Ukrainians to be called up into the army.

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Ukraine Vladimir Putin Military operation in Ukraine

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