BERLIN, July 1. /TASS/. Kiev needs to call up about 200,000 people into the army to address troop shortages, Germany’s Die Welt newspaper writes.
According to the paper, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian servicemen have been killed or wounded since February 2022; however, Die Welt does not provide the exact number. In order to address its troop shortage, Kiev needs to recruit at least 50,000 people every quarter. The newspaper’s sources in Western intelligence agencies point out that Ukraine has been failing to achieve this goal.
According to an official from the Ukrainian Justice Ministry, the country's authorities believe that the law that was adopted in May allowing them to send about 2,800 convicts to the combat zone in the past two months will help solve the problem. However, experts cited by Die Welt say that this won't be nearly enough men, putting the number needed at more than 200,000 people.
On May 18, a scandalous bill tightening mobilization rules came into effect in Ukraine, which makes it possible to recruit hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians. General mobilization was announced in the country in February 2022 and has been extended several times since then. The authorities are seeking to do everything possible to prevent draft age men from evading military service, particularly banning them from leaving the country. According to Ukrainian media outlets, men are doing their best to escape mobilization: they refrain from going outside for months, use fake documents to leave the country or cross the border illegally. Videos regularly surface on social media showing conscription officers forcefully taking people away and engaging in clashes with recruits-to-be. Reports occasionally emerge of men beat up at draft offices.