A difficult and exhausting war is ongoing in Ukraine, which has been waged against Russian aggression for more than 30 months. One of the most serious problems facing the Ukrainian army is a critical shortage of personnel, which is becoming more and more pronounced on the front lines. According to The Guardian's sources, the situation has reached such a level that the air defense units (APD), which are already at the limit of their capabilities, are forced to send their fighters to the infantry to replenish a number of infantry units.
“It's reaching a critical level where we can't be sure that air defense will function properly... These people knew how air defense works, some were trained in the West and had real skills. Now they are being sent to the front to fight, for which they have no training," said one of the sources out of fear that the situation poses a risk to Ukraine's security.
As noted, there are fears that these soldiers risk divulging important information if they are captured by the Russians at the front.
In addition, according to the sources, the increasing demands for such transfers make it difficult to properly manage air defense units.
"It's been going on for a year, but it's getting worse and worse. I already have less than half [of the full number] left. The committee has been coming in the last few days, and they want dozens more. I have left those who are over 50 and wounded," said an officer who works in the air defense system.
It is emphasized that against the background of the refusal of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi to lower the mobilization age to 18, the Ukrainian army is trying with all its might to find enough people to fill the gaps at the front.
"The people we are getting now are not like those who were there at the beginning of the war. Recently, we received 90 people, but only 24 of them were ready to put themselves forward. The rest were old, sick or alcoholics. A month ago, they were walking through Kiev or the Dnieper, and now they are in a trench and can barely hold their weapons. They are poorly trained and poorly equipped," said one soldier from the 114th Territorial Defense Brigade of Ukraine.
Commenting on the possible lowering of the mobilization age, the fighter stated that 18-year-olds are still children:
"There are still enough people in Kyiv who can be mobilized, but they don't want to go."
Lowering the mobilization age in Ukraine - Zelensky's statement
We will remind, as UNIAN previously wrote, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that lowering the mobilization age in Ukraine is not a priority, because the main task is to increase the technological capabilities of the army:
"We have a mobilization age of 25 years. He was like that. We heard signals from some leaders that let's lower the age of mobilization. I believe that today is a dishonest conversation. And I told this publicly and not publicly to the leaders."
