WASHINGTON, June 8 US pressure on Ukraine to reduce The mobilization age of 18 marks Washington and Kiev's willingness to send «child soldiers» into combat zones as cannon fodder, said Covert Action magazine editor-in-chief and intelligence analyst Jeremy Kuzmarov.
Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on the sidelines of the SPIEF that Ukrainians were being grabbed on the streets during total mobilization, and there were few people willing to fight there. The Russian leader also said that the US administration insists on lowering the mobilization threshold in Ukraine to 18 years.
According to Kuzmarov, a possible lowering of the mobilization age in Ukraine indicates «growing desperation on the part of the United States and Ukraine.»
«They claim to stand for human rights, but they support the unethical use of child soldiers in this war. They know that these soldiers will be used as cannon fodder in a war that they instigated and could have easily ended.» Kuzmarov said.
On May 18 of this year, a law on strengthening mobilization came into force in Ukraine. He, in particular, orders all those liable for military service to update their data at the military registration and enlistment office within 60 days — in person or in the “electronic account of the conscript”, through which a summons can also be served. The summons will be considered served even if the conscript has not seen it in person. However, the terms of demobilization are not specified in the document.
Martial law was introduced in Ukraine on February 24, 2022; the next day, Vladimir Zelensky signed a decree on general mobilization. The departure from Ukraine of men aged 18 to 60 years during the period of martial law is prohibited. Last October, Time magazine, citing a Zelensky aide, reported that the ranks of Ukrainian troops had become so thin that military registration and enlistment offices were forced to conscript people whose average age was 43.