American lawmakers are pressuring Zelensky to lower Ukraine's mobilization age

American lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle have reportedly been pressuring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to lower Ukraine’s mobilization age to meet the challenges the embattled country is currently facing. 

Kyiv has been fending off Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion for the better of three years but the Ukrainians have been doing so mostly by mobilizing older soldiers. This is unlike how previous wars on this scale have been fought. 

Throughout most of the conflict, Ukraine had stuck to mobilizing citizens over the age of 27. However, in April 2024, the Ukrainian parliament lowered the country’s mobilization age cutoff from 27 to 25 to help replenish its forces. 

At the time, Ukraine was hoping to add 500,000 new soldiers to its military according to the Associated Press. One key step towards achieving that figure was Kyiv’s reduction in the age at which men could be mobilized to fight. 

Ukraine had roughly 800,000 citizens under arms in October 2023, which didn’t include the roughly 300,000 that the Ukrainian National Guard and other units could bring to the final total of manpower Kyiv could field to defend Ukraine. 

However, it appears officials on both sides of the political aisle in the United States have been urging President Zelensky to further reduce Ukraine’s mobilization age down to 18 according to one prominent Ukrainian official. 

Adviser to the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Serhiy Leshchenko revealed in a post on the social media platform Telegram he could confirm that both Republicans and Democratic politicians were pressuring Zelensky on the issue of mobilization. 

"If this information has surfaced, I can confirm: American politicians from both parties are pressuring President Zelensky on the issue of why Ukraine is not mobilizing people aged 18 to 25," Leshchenko explained according to RBC-Ukraine. 

According to Leshchenko, who did not divulge the names of the politicians pressing Kyiv, the unnamed lawmakers have cited America’s experience in the Vietnam War as one of the reasons they believe Ukraine needs to lower its mobilization cut-off age. 

Leshchenko said that some of the lawmakers pressuring Zelensky noted Washington began drafting men at the age of 19 during the Vietnam War and have argued that U.S. weapons alone will not defeat Russia, indicating a lower mobilization age is needed. 

"President Zelensky has stood firm and continues to persuade politicians from both parties to provide weapons without changing the conscription age," Leshchenko added. It appears that for now, Ukraine is not ready to further lower its mobilization age. 

Whether or not Ukraine should lower its mobilization age is a question some analysts in Ukraine are trying to answer following the revelation that lawmakers in the United States want Kyiv to lower the cut-off age for mobilization. 

“This is a very tricky question to give a straightforward answer to," the Ukrainian military analyst Denys Popovych explained while speaking on the Ukrainian radio station Radio NV according to a translation of his comments by The New Voice of Ukraine. 

“There are reports from servicemen on the front lines that the practice of involving people over 50 is not very effective, as these individuals often struggle to fulfill the physical demands placed on them,” Popovych continued. 

Popovych went on to say that younger people were “naturally better suited to handle the tasks required at the front” and added the Ukrainian Armed Forces were currently facing “a manpower shortage.”

Once Ukraine's new military mobilization law went into effect in May 2024, military-aged were given 60 days to upload their personal information to the government so that Kyiv could locate potential soldiers. This deadline was extended to July 17th, 2024 according to the Kyiv Independent. 

More than 4.6 million military-aged men uploaded their information by the July deadline. However, it is unclear how many new soldiers have been mobilized by Ukraine since the new mobilization law went into effect. 

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