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Mobilization campaign makes Ukrainians see state as enemy — retired colonel

According to Oleg Starikov, common citizens increasingly seek to stay away from people in military uniform

MOSCOW, December 29. /TASS/. Ukrainians see their state as an enemy because of the government’s policy of forced mobilization, Oleg Starikov, retired colonel of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), said.

"The government’s unwise mobilization policy has made people lose trust in the state and see the state as their enemy," he said in an interview with the Politeka Online YouTube channel. "This is what the stupid mobilization law has led to," Starikov added.

According to the expert, common citizens increasingly seek to stay away from people in military uniform. Starikov warned that the Ukrainian army’s morale and the training level of troops had plummeted, which could spark a tactical crisis along the entire front line.

General mobilization was announced in Ukraine in February 2022 and has been extended several times since, with the authorities doing everything possible so that draft-age men cannot evade military service. On May 18, 2024, the law on toughening mobilization came into force in the country. Draft orders are handed out at government buildings where people seek public services, on the streets, in shopping centers and on public transportation. Protests against mobilization have repeatedly been held in Ukraine.

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