PARIS, February 2. /TASS/. Ukraine needs another wave of mobilization in order to rotate its troops on the frontline, Kiev Mayor Vitaly Klichko told France’s Le Point magazine.
"We need a new mobilization to ensure the rotation of soldiers on the frontline," he said.
According to Klichko, so far, 100,000 Kiev residents, men and women, have been called up. The city budget has earmarked about 7 bln hryvnias (approximately 170 mln euros) "to support the Ukrainian army."
A general mobilization was announced in Ukraine in February 2022 and has been extended several times since then, with the authorities doing everything possible so that draft age men cannot evade military service. In particular, Ukrainian men are prohibited from traveling abroad and call-up orders are being handed out at government offices when people seek public services, as well as on the streets and at any place where large numbers of people gather. According to media reports, many Ukrainian men literally shun leaving their homes for months on end to avoid encounters with recruiters.
Mobilization has already resulted in numerous scandals and sharp divisions in society. While military recruiters frequently use coercion and force, and even those unfit for military service end up being called up, many lawmakers and public officials dodge conscription by secreting their draft age sons abroad to avoid being sent to fight. Nevertheless, in December 2023, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said that the military command had submitted a request to call up another 500,000 people. Following this, the government began working on a draft bill to institute new, more draconian mobilization rules.