Ukraine lowers its conscription age to 25 to plug a shortfall in troop numbers fighting Russia
Associated PressMar 20
Ukraine Lowers Conscription Age to 25
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The Facts
In an effort to replace depleted troops, Pres. Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday signed a law to lower the military conscription age from 27 to 25. The law took effect Wednesday.
While all men aged 18-60 have been barred from leaving the country since the war began, only those 27 and older could be drafted by the government to fight.
The Spin
Pro-Ukraine narrative
Ukraine is facing several issues surrounding manpower, among which is certainly a need for new conscripts. The government could also work to rotate its frontline troops — most of whom have not had a break in two years — to the back and replace them with the hundreds of thousands of others who have yet to face the frontline.
Pro-Russia narrative
Zelenskyy is about to pull an even younger generation of Ukrainians onto the battlefield despite his past efforts failing to defeat Russian forces. As he lowers the conscription age, he's citing the lie that Russia intends to mobilize another 300K soldiers by June as a reason to rebuild his forces. Ukraine couldn't win with its original force and will continue to lose after this latest move.