MOSCOW, January 28. /TASS/. A Ukrainian intelligence unit commander has suggested that foreign nationals holding residence permits should be mandated to sign contracts of up to six months to serve in the country’s army and be sent to the front.
"Our data shows <...> that over 100,000 military-aged foreigners currently reside in Ukraine - I’m talking about men with residence permits," Denis Yaroslavsky told the Novosti.Live TV channel. He suggested these people be called up to the army so that "an international regiment for the assault forces" could be formed.
According to Yaroslavsky, he floated the idea at a General Staff meeting a while ago, specifying that "military-aged men with residence permits should be mandated to sign contracts to serve in the army for six months." "I dropped the idea, and it is now under consideration; I hope it will be accepted," he said.
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. Draft officers have stepped up raids of public places to address manpower shortages. The number of desertion and AWOL incidents in the Ukrainian army keeps increasing.