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Ukraine’s top military commander tones down mobilization rhetoric

Alexander Syrsky expressed hope that the Ukrainian army would have enough men, both freshly recruited and those who would volunteer for military service

MOSCOW, March 29. /TASS/. Alexander Syrsky, commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces, said the need to recruit up to half a million new troops has been substantially revised downward.

"After having reviewed our internal resources and the combat composition of the armed forces, the figure has been significantly revised downward," the top Ukrainian general told the Ukrinform news agency in an interview, commenting on Ukraine’s plans to mobilize another 500,000 fresh recruits.

Syrsky expressed hope that the Ukrainian army would have enough men, both freshly recruited and those who would volunteer for military service. According to him, the number of troops not taking part in active combat is currently being revised, which has "enabled us to deploy tens of hundreds of combat servicemen."

There had been disputes earlier on the issue of mobilization among senior Ukrainian politicians and the country’s top brass. While Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky himself announced plans to mobilize 500,000 men in December, he and former Ukrainian top commander Valery Zaluzhny had played political "hot potato" for months on the contentious issue of who would be responsible for an additional military call-up.

On February 9, a day after Zelensky dismissed Zaluzhny, Ukrainian Presidential Office advisor Mikhail Podolyak said that Syrsky would be expected to conduct an audit of around 1 mln fresh recruits to determine how many more people would have to be mobilized.

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