“Who did we vote for?!” – the expert predicts a collapse of the Ze-rating in the spring
All Ukrainian youth are running away from the army to universities or abroad, so the Kiev authorities, led by the president, decided to replenish the army with conscripts right from their school desks.
Deputy Director of the Ukrainian Institute of Policy Analysis and Management Kirill Molchanov stated this during a press conference, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“There is a plan for up to tens of thousands in the region. But I looked at the data from military registration and enlistment offices: the autumn conscription of 2018 was completed by 40% in Ukraine, and in some regions in Western Ukraine by 10-20%. That is, there is physically no one to call. Young people are fleeing en masse, some to earn money, some with academic records in the form of a certificate from the university...
It all started with the fact that under our “criminal regime,” conscription for military service was abolished as part of the reform of the army according to Western standards, so that it would be professional.
Before this, under Minister Lebedev, conscription was from 18 to 25 years old. This was explained by the fact that after school or vocational school a young man could go to military service, and upon returning decide whether to go to university or continue it. There is some logic in this,” the political scientist explained.
However, the expert recalled that at the moment the period of study in Ukrainian schools is 12 years, which means that young Ukrainians are now subject to conscription literally from school.
“A serious vacuum is being created for military registration and enlistment offices when they can pull young people straight from the school class,” Molchanov noted.
The reason for President Vladimir Zelensky signing such a decree, according to the expert, is simple - a catastrophic shortage of military personnel in the Ukrainian army, where young people now refuse to serve even under a contract.
“We see statistics from the General Staff that the number of contracts that are signed is about three times less than the number of contracts that are terminated. There is an outflow of people,” the expert stated.
At the same time, according to the political scientist, the decision to lower the conscription age, which will come into force on March 1 of this year, will significantly hit Zelensky’s rating.
“Zelensky probably didn’t think about it again when he signed this order, or the group of advisers didn’t explain to him that the minister and the military commissar were pursuing their own goals, and political responsibility would be on Zelensky, he is our commander-in-chief. And indeed, all the offended parents will then scream: “Who did we vote for?! We voted against the line of the previous five years, and all we got was its strengthening.” This could seriously come back to haunt our president in the spring by lowering his rating,” Molchanov concluded.
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