(Dan Tri) – Ukraine is looking for ways to strengthen its forces in the face of Russian attacks, including efforts to add additional soldiers on the battlefield.
Ukrainian soldiers exercise in Donetsk (Photo: Reuters).
Ukrainian recruits have different circumstances.
However, they share one common characteristic: after undergoing preliminary training in Western Europe, none of them was capable of fighting in the hottest areas of the Ukrainian front line.
The process of recruiting soldiers became tense, especially in the assault brigades.
`We only found men between 45 and 47 years old, they were probably exhausted by the time they reached the front line,` a senior Ukrainian officer complained.
Aware of the above problem, in September, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense began implementing a new military mobilization strategy.
`Some people mistakenly believe that someone else will join the army in their place,` Mr. Pavliuk said.
Reform efforts in military recruitment aim to give those on the fence more choices.
A prime example of a unit that successfully carried out a recruitment campaign is the 3rd Assault Brigade, which was established nine months into the war as a branch of Ukraine’s special forces.
Khrystyna Bondarenko, a spokeswoman for the brigade, said they had no shortage of volunteers.
Meanwhile, Russia is also having difficulty mobilizing the necessary troops.
On December 1, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree increasing the size of the Russian armed forces to 170,000 people.