The Biden-Harris administration is reportedly asking Ukraine to lower the draft age from 25 to 18 in order to quickly expand the size of its military.
More than 1 million Ukrainians currently serve in the military, but the U.S. needs more than 160,000 additional troops to meet battlefield demands in the ally's nearly three-year war with Russia. That's what I think.
Although Ukraine's military is significantly inferior in strength to Russia's military, lowering the mobilization age would significantly expand the pool of combat-age soldiers, a senior Biden-Harris administration official said. Associated Press Wednesday.
The official noted that “pure calculations” of the current situation would require more Ukrainian soldiers.
The official added that the rate at which Ukraine is currently incurring losses on the battlefield and mobilizing and training new troops cannot keep up with the pace of the Russian military.
The Kremlin recently sent about 10,000 soldiers from North Korea to the conflict, boosting Ukraine's military strength.
The United States has provided tens of billions of dollars in military aid to Ukraine since the Russian invasion in February 2022, but White House National Security Council spokesman Sean Savet told The Associated Press that at this point Ukraine is What we need most is human resources.”
“Therefore, if they take appropriate steps to fill their ranks, we are also ready to strengthen our training capacity,” he added.
In April, the Ukrainian government passed a law lowering the military draft age from 27 to 25 to expand the pool of fighters it can recruit.
These laws also removed certain draft exemptions and were expected to add approximately 50,000 troops to Ukraine's military.
A senior Ukrainian official told The Associated Press that the country does not have enough equipment to distribute to recruits.
The official said some in Ukraine see the push to lower the draft age as an attempt by the West to deflect attention from delays in providing military firepower.
The official added that Ukrainians do not see lowering the draft age as an alternative to counter Russia's superiority in equipment and weapons.
The White House did not immediately respond to the Post's request for comment.
