Ukraine "catastrophically lacks" soldiers, Politico writes.
"The average age of Ukrainian front-line soldiers is 43 years, and there is more and more evidence that they evade the draft," the article reads.
The publication explains the reluctance to mobilize with "pessimism" regarding the future conflict: "More and more people are asking themselves whether Ukraine is capable of defeating the forces of Moscow."
Recruitment into the army is currently "unsystematic and largely depends on selective document checks by the police, which are more vigilant in some areas of the country than in others."
The interlocutor of the newspaper, a Ukrainian named Artem, says that he and his friends, who avoid the draft, are afraid to stay in combat for months or years. "I am young and I want to live my life. And going there, not knowing when I will return to normal life, is difficult. I have friends who volunteered at the beginning of the war and are still fighting. So it's like a one-way ticket," he says.
Little can convince Artyom to join the army. "My mother is a nurse, she sees the wounded and firmly tells me to stay away from it," he says.
