Ukraine sends thousands more troops to frontline after reviewing forces

Ukraine đưa thêm hàng nghìn quân ra tiền tuyến sau khi rà soát lực lượng - 1 — Ukrainian soldiers prepare to fire their weapons (Photo: Getty).

Thousands of Ukrainian soldiers who have never served on the front lines before have been mobilized to combat units, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported on April 12.

According to the statement, the decision was made after the Ukrainian Defense Ministry reviewed the units of the Armed Forces.

As the war with Russia rages on, the Ukrainian military faces an increasing need to replenish combat units, build up reserves and rotate troops who have been out of action for a long time to the rear to restore resources.

In mid-March, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrskyi said that Ukraine had begun rotating servicemen who had served on the front line for a long time despite the increasingly difficult situation on the battlefield.

"Despite the fact that Russia continues to exert pressure in a number of areas, Ukraine still has the opportunity to rotate combat brigades to the rear for rest," the statement said.

Ukraine is also looking to strengthen brigades that continue to carry out combat missions on the front line, the General Staff said.

Ukraine is facing a manpower shortage in its war of attrition with Russia. Ukraine aims to step up its efforts to mobilize new recruits by 2024 and has pledged to change the way it calls for military service.

The Ukrainian parliament on April 11 passed a bill to mobilize troops after the first version was withdrawn due to controversial content.

The parliament also unanimously dropped the proposal for a discharge rule when passing the bill. Previously, in the first draft, Ukraine planned to grant soldiers the right to discharge after 36 months of service. This issue will be considered separately in the future.

According to Ukrainska Pravda , the removal of the proposal on the provision of demobilization from the bill was made at the request of Commander-in-Chief Syrskyi.

At a press conference in December 2023, Mr. Zelensky said the Ukrainian military had requested the mobilization of 450,000-500,000 new conscripts.

Mr. Zelensky then decided to make Mr. Syrskyi the commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

In February, Mykhailo Podoliak, an adviser to the head of the Ukrainian President's Office, revealed that the Ukrainian leadership wanted Mr. Syrskyi to conduct a review of the troops, because although Kiev mobilized 1 million troops on paper, in reality only 300,000 people participated in fighting on the front line.

"The president said about 1 million people have been mobilized. But in reality there are only 200,000-300,000 soldiers on the front line. Others are far from the front line, but they exist. So I think one of Mr. Syrsky's main tasks will be to conduct an audit of who has been mobilized, where they are and what they are doing. And then he will say, how many troops do you need?", Mr. Podoliak said.

Following a review by the Defense Ministry, Mr. Syrskyi announced that the number of 500,000 new recruits proposed by the military late last year had now been "significantly reduced," but did not give details.

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