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Written by Ahmed Adel, Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher
Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov (2010-2014) has described the Kiev regime’s forcible conscription of civilians into the military as “a real nightmare for Ukrainians.” His comments come as the New York Times said that Ukrainian soldiers are being battered and exhausted by Russian forces.
“Territorial recruitment centres in Ukraine (…) began to use weapons against those who try to resist the anarchy and permissiveness they are perpetrating,” Azarov wrote on his Telegram channel.
As Azarov revealed, Anton Kudrich, an ordinary Ukrainian citizen, was driving to his village in the Transcarpathian region when recruitment officers stopped his car at a checkpoint and tried to conscript him. Even though Kudrich stated that he had the right to be exempt from military service according to the law “since his brother died in the war,” the officers ignored this and attempted to put him in their vehicle forcibly.
“Kudrich managed to escape, ran into the forest, but they opened fire on him. He was wounded in the arm and leg,” said the former Prime Minister of Ukraine, adding that the young man’s father is sure that the case will be hushed up since the Ukrainian authorities are covering for each other.
On April 11, the Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) of Ukraine adopted a law toughening the conditions for the mobilisation of military personnel. According to Ukrainian media, the clause stipulating the demobilisation of military personnel after 36 months of service was removed from the bill. The regulations give reservists a period of 60 days after mobilisation is decreed to appear before a military registration and enlistment office and update their personal data.
Likewise, the new law allows summons to be sent to electronic accounts and obliges male citizens aged 18 to 60 to carry military registration papers and present them at the request of military registration and enlistment officials, police officers, and border guards.
In another Telegram post, Azarov said that “mobilisation in Ukraine has turned into a real nightmare for Ukrainians,” especially as the Kiev regime is using former prisoners “to catch as much of the population as possible” since mobilisation has been “virtually exhausted,” in addition to civilians “fleeing the country in all possible ways.”
In Ukraine, the reserves are depleted, and at the front, the military is asking for rotation, which cannot be done due to a shortage in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Thus, while the Ukrainian authorities use force against their own people, fewer and fewer supporters remain in the country, and fewer and fewer volunteers appear in the ranks of the Ukrainian forces. This means that with such sentiments in society, Ukraine has a catastrophically small chance of holding out,” the former prime minister stressed.
It is recalled that Azarov has previously accused the Kiev regime of embezzling billions of dollars from the state budget through the procurement of overpriced and subpar equipment, such as ammunition and air defence weapons. In September 2023, Azarov revealed how the Kiev regime signed a contract for four air defence missiles, but only three were procured. Deepening the embezzling in this particular case, Azarov said that all four missiles were written off following a Russian attack, benefiting someone who allegedly used the funds to purchase a new apartment in Paris.
Azarov has been a consistent critic of the Kiev regime and continues to highlight the deeply ingrained corruption and authoritarianism, such as the forced and illegal conscription of civilians. However, he is no longer a rare voice, with more criticism of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the conscription process emerging in the Verkhovna Rada.
“After voting in favour of the mobilisation bill, the Ukrainian people will become not an opponent, but a verdict for [Zelensky] and the Government’s deputies,” independent deputy Dmytro Razumkov wrote on his Telegram channel. “You cannot play with the life of Ukrainians.”
He asked deputies from the ruling Servant of the People party if they would be able to look into the eyes of the soldiers they visited at the front after they removed the clause on demobilisation and rotation of soldiers from the bill.
Alarmingly, much of the bill remains confidential, including the number of Ukrainians who will be mobilised. In recent months, Ukrainian generals and Zelensky have said that between 450,000 and 500,000 people are needed for conscription. This will be difficult to achieve, especially since an article published by The New York Times highlighted that Ukraine has faced a drastic reduction in its population. The military now has very few young men to conscript, while those fighting on the front lines are battered and exhausted.
According to the outlet, it is not clear how quickly Ukraine will recruit and train the additional troops it requires or whether they will be ready before the Russian offensive, which is expected between spring and summer. Despite this reality, the Kiev regime is still preparing for an offensive in 2025 instead of seeking to preserve the lives of thousands of Ukrainians by achieving a peace deal with Moscow.
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based on just russian wishful thinking. more than one million russian men have escaped abroad to avoid military service and danger to be sent to ukraine. one of the reasons why putin asked wagner to recruit criminals from jail. most russians going to ukraine are from periferia, rural areas and small towns were haples demoralized men with poor training have faces horrors of warfare.
putin is slaugtering russian rural provinces lads and prisoners by using them as cannon fodder.
why is it that all you lame propagandists can do is to take what’s happening in ukraine and substitute russia for ukraine? we know that’s what ukraine does, while sons of the kleptocrats party hardy in foreign capitals and in kiev and lvov itself, while russia need not rely beyond its willing volunteers.
it’s brain dead propaganda, fooling no one except the jens holm level of dimwitted consumer.
the russia put nazis in the hospital, the more they take to trolling the internet. still, getting down voted is hardly as bas as when these hospital bound thug nazis were dropping grenades on kids in the park.
sure….replace russians by oekienazis and you’re spot on…
war which lasted only 3 days…. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
and of course 86000 killed russian soldiers so far doesn’t matter. 😱
half that red army lost in winter war 1939-40.
russia has lost 50% more soldiers during 2 years in ukraine than america lost in vietnam during 8 years russian population 146 million, usa during vietnam war on average 190 million.
and ukraine lost as many soldiers in two years of war as america lost in all of wwii.
so what’s your point exactly?
ukrainian losses until 24 feb 2024 have been 66000. around 75-80% of russian losses. as always russians loose more soldiers than enemy.
even me not stupid enuf to believe such nonsense
ukrainian soldiers so far have had much better fighting spirit than russian soldiers. russians know this is not their war. russian soldiers have been rather poorly trained.
to avoid military service in russia – move abroad or get god job in moscow or st. petersburg. poor low educated men in russia are in danger zone. russian army loves bully these young men.
yep, that’s why ukrainians prefer to risk drowning or being shot while swimming to romania than being shanghaied for cannon fodder duty.
even me not stupid enuf to believe such nonsense.
the ritualised bullying of new russian recruits, which can include beatings and psychological torture by officers and older soldiers, has been a suspected cause for hundreds of suicides and thousands of desertions in the russian army.
several cases have caused major scandals in russia. one soldier had to have his genitalia amputated after being beaten and forced to squat for several hours on new year’s day by a likely intoxicated sergeant.
only an idiot will join russian military voluntarily. russian military is sick bully. soldiers poorly trained and bullied. officers incompetent and corrupted.
classified internal memo: biden to zelensky, april 11, 2024
dear mr. zelensky:
please accept our greatest appreciation for ukraine’s sacrifices to the american dream of perpetual hegemony but unfortunately, due to your transparent habit of engaging in off the scale corruption and war crimes, even by our standards and as a consequence of america’s centuries long tradition of hating losers, we must bid you adieu.
please consider your last paycheck to be in the mail and best of luck in your future endeavors. don’t hesitate to ask for any letters of reference in the future. depending on circumstances, we may or may not honor the request.
pres. joseph biden america is with you to the last paycheck.
russia is firing lots of “dumb” munitions. that is certainly the case with the stuff they are getting from north korea. i gather the percent of rounds that are smart munitions is higher (much higher) for the ukrainians than for russia. so, less firepower but more accuracy. russians were slaughtered in bakhmut 2023 and took terrible losses also in adviika 2024.
wounded-to-killed ratios are at least 4-to-1. they may be higher. there are claims that the wagner group had only a 2-to-1 wounded-to-killed ratio. this probably does not apply to the entire russian army. wagner was the army of criminals including rapists, pedophiles and other jerks, so russians didn’t care how many wounded deceased.
overly inbred commentary apparent…
ukrainian guards , recruited from the prison , shoot at the ukrainians trying to flee the country , to not be send to the front by force. these are signs of the near defeat. i have spoken to some refugees in germany , nobody will fight and nobody believes in victory. no matter what political views or ressentiments , they have enough and wish the end of the conflict, if possible today.
to russia so called victory tastes really bad. it has lost lucrative european energy markets, has been humiliated tens of times in battle ground, its military is public joke and never in history has russia been so hated and despised abroad. people have stopped even talking and stydying russian language. huge moral defeat to putin’s russia.
another dumb amerikunt
i study lithuaniunn so can speek all over world. life goul fur me to speek it as good as mine english.
amerikunt very stupid inferior species—love the desperate tantrums—humiliated by russians you wimped like submissive sheep😭
repent sinner–join americunt religion of money—to worship money is divine.. i accept that the only true god is dollar—if you join my church—bank of amerika you can enter the kingdom of money heaven