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Ukraine prepares to mobilize more men as war rages on

"Yes, the military has approached us and there will probably be an additional call-up," the secretary of the National Security Council, Olexiy Danilov, told a Ukrainian broadcaster on Saturday.

DPA WORLD
Published August 26,2023
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The Ukrainian leadership is preparing additional call-ups as it seeks to repel Russia's ongoing invasion.

"Yes, the military has approached us and there will probably be an additional call-up," the secretary of the National Security Council, Olexiy Danilov, told a Ukrainian broadcaster on Saturday.

However the mobilization will not go beyond the parameters already set at the start of the war on February 24, 2022, he added.

Danilov said the move was not an unscheduled measure and that mobilization has been ongoing for a year and a half.

"There is no need to make noise about it, everything is going according to the plan we are currently following," he said.

Ukraine declared martial law after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion, which means all men between the ages of 18 and 60 are obliged to carry out military service if called upon.

However, some are exempt from serving, for health or social reasons, or if they are single fathers.

The exact number of men who have been called up so far is not known, but last year, Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar put the number at several hundred thousand.

Losses in the ongoing fighting mean new recruits need to be constantly trained and sent into combat.

A corruption scandal recently emerged relating to conscription. There were reports that an official working in a district military office had bought property in Spain allegedly through bribes received for declaring wealthy Ukrainians unfit for service.

After the case was published, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky demanded a thorough examination of the nation's whole conscription system, to root out corruption.

At a press conference on Wednesday, Zelensky had said that the military leadership was asking for more soldiers to be mobilized, when asked whether more recruits should be called up in light of heavy losses.