Able refugees should also be brought back from abroad to fight for Kiev, Ben Hodges has said
Ukraine should consider drafting women and lowering the mobilization age to 18 to boost its chances in the conflict with Russia, Ben Hodges, a former commander of US Army in Europe, has argued. Kiev lowered the conscription age to 25 earlier this year.
The former general’s statement follows multiple reports in the mainstream media of Ukraine’s severe manpower shortages, stemming from mounting losses on the frontline of the conflict with Russia.
To bolster the mobilization drive, Kiev should draft younger people, Hodges told Ukrainian news outlet hromadske.ua in an interview published on Thursday.
“In my opinion, the conscription age in Ukraine is too high. In most countries of the world, you can join the military at the age of 18 or 19. Ukraine could also use this opportunity,” the former general said.
“I also think that there is enough work for women in the army. We need to engage women in military service more actively,” he added.
Hodges also noted that Ukrainians living abroad have no business sitting the conflict out.
“I live in Germany, and there are many Ukrainians here, I see them everywhere. This is not right. Only those who cannot help Ukraine fight should be here,” he said.
UN data suggests that as many as 6.8 million Ukrainians are living abroad, having fled the country since the conflict escalated in 2022.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken similarly said that Kiev needs to get younger people onto the front line, in an interview with Reuters on Wednesday. “Right now, 18 to 25-year olds are not in the fight,” he said.
Ukraine’s flagging mobilization drive is reportedly further exacerbated by high desertion rates. According to an article in the Financial Times last week, Ukrainian authorities opened at least 60,000 criminal cases against deserters between January and October of this year.
The actual number of desertions since 2022 could be as high as 200,000, the Associated Press wrote last week, citing a Ukrainian lawmaker with knowledge of military matters.
Moscow has repeatedly slammed Kiev’s NATO backers as pushing the country into a war “to the last Ukrainian.” Russia views the conflict as a proxy war waged by the US and its allies against Russia via Ukraine.
