War urge in Ukraine: Should the minimum age for military service decrease?

War urge in Ukraine: Should the minimum age for military service decrease?

Kyiv, Ukraine - kyiv in turmoil about US proposal to reduce the convening age!

Ukraine is under pressure! A high-ranking US official has called for the call-up age in Ukraine to reduce from 25 to 18 years in order to increase the urgently needed strength of troops in the fight against the Russian aggressors. While the Ukrainian armed forces in Donbas are under massive pressure, the Ukrainian government decidedly rejects this proposal. "It makes no sense to lower the mobilization age if the promised western military aid does not arrive in time," said Dmitry Litvin, a consultant of President Wolodymyr Selenskyj, on the platform X.

The 20-year-old Vladislav, a former volunteer who fought on the front, is horrified by the idea. "I saw enough to know that 18-year-olds are not ready to go to war," he said. He is waiting for a medical assessment that could decide on his return to the front. Many Ukrainians, like the 64-year-old Oleksiy Surovchenko, are angry and instead demand more arms deliveries from the USA to equip the already mobilized soldiers. "We pay for America's indecisiveness," scolded Surovchenko.

resistance to the convening of young people

The opinions about the lowering of the calling age are split. The 17-year-old Serhiy is vehemently against the proposal and would rather die in Kiev than to fight against his "blood relatives". "Our ancestors, the Cossacks, have never sent men to war without descendants," he emphasizes. His mother, Neela, agrees with him and warns that younger people do not have the necessary maturity to go to war. "That will mean the destruction of the Ukrainian people," she says.

The situation is more complicated by the announcement of Moscow to have trained 300,000 reservists to be sent to the front. While Ukraine is fighting for support, the claim from Washington is perceived as a means of pressure to secure arms deliveries. A military expert described the US claim as "extortion" and warns of the consequences if Ukraine does not give in.