Ukrainian authorities have been urged to reduce the age of military service to 18, as the Joe Biden’s administration prepares a $725million weapons package for Kyiv before President Joe Biden leaves office in January.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, a senior US official stated, “Ukraine should consider lowering the age of military service from 25 to 18 years, as the country was not mobilising or training enough new soldiers to replace those killed in action,” Al Jazeera reports.
The need right now is manpower.
“The Russians are in fact making progress, steady progress, in the east, and they are beginning to push back Ukrainian lines in Kursk. Mobilisation and more manpower could make a significant difference at this time, as we look at the battlefield today,” the official added.
While Ukrainian forces have “healthy stockpiles of the vital tools, munitions and weapons that they need to succeed on the battlefield,” the official warned, “[But] without a pipeline of new troops, the existing units, who are fighting heroically on the front lines, cannot rotate out to rest, refit, train and re-equip.”
A source in President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office expressed concern, saying, “Right now, with our current mobilisation efforts, we don’t have enough equipment, for example, armoured vehicles, to support all the troops we are calling up.”
The source added, “Kyiv would not compensate for our partners’ delays in decision-making and supply chains with the lives of our soldiers and of the youngest of our guys.”
In April, Zelenskyy lowered the mobilisation age for combat duty from 27 to 25 under martial law, a measure in place since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
The Biden administration’s planned weapons package reportedly includes antitank mines, drones, Stinger missiles, cluster munitions, and ammunition for HIMARS.
Formal notification to Congress could come as early as Monday, though the contents may change.
Russia’s deputy UN ambassador, Dmitry Polyanskiy, warned that a potential reduction in US support under the incoming Trump administration would be a “death sentence” for the Ukrainian army.
Meanwhile, analysts say Russian forces are advancing at their fastest rate since the early days of the invasion, seizing territory equal to half the size of London in the past month.