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Kiev needs to draft 18-year-olds despite demographic issues, expert says

Alexander Gladun pointed out that in the current demographic situation, Ukraine must increase its birth rate

MOSCOW, April 21. /TASS/. Men aged between 18 and 25 will have to be drafted into the Ukrainian armed forces if the army command submits such a request, Alexander Gladun, deputy director of the Institute of Demography and Quality of Life Problems at Ukraine’s National Academy of Sciences, said.

According to him, young men in this age group were born in the early 2000s, when Ukraine’s birth rate was notably low, "and if many of them get killed, the next generations will be even smaller." "This is demography, but as for politics, it’s up to the military to decide whether to reduce the draft age. Military commanders should assess their needs in terms of age groups, and if they need people aged between 18 and 25, those will have to be drafted," the expert told RBC Ukraine.

Gladun pointed out that in the current demographic situation, Ukraine must increase its birth rate.

Ukraine has been grappling with demographic problems since independence. According to the Ptoukha Institute for Demography and Social Studies, between 25 and 28 million people lived in the Kiev-controlled territories last year. The institute’s Director Ella Libanova previously said that the population would never return to the Soviet levels, when about 52 million people had lived in Ukraine. In 2012, the country’s birth rate stood at 1.53. Vasily Voskoboinik, president of the All-Ukrainian Association of Companies for International Employment, said in February that the country’s annual deaths outnumber births by 250,000 - 300,000. According to him, every Ukrainian woman needs to give birth to five to seven children in order to offset demographic losses.

Preparations underway to draft 18-year-olds

Discussions on the need to lower the draft age continue in Ukraine due to the army’s recruitment shortfalls. The government has already lowered the draft age once: until April 2024, men from 27 to 60 were eligible for military service, and now, the draft age starts at 25. On February 11, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry launched a campaign to recruit men aged 18 to 24 for contract service.

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