Ukrainian military and public activist Serhiy Gnezdilov, in an interview with Parliament.ua, shared his vision of the problem of mobilization, inequality in the recruitment of troops, and belated decisions by the state.
Mobilization and social responsibility
According to Gnezdilov, without effective mobilization measures, it is impossible to introduce clear terms of service or rotation:
“You can tell society: “someone is fighting for you there and he will fight” – that’s one thing. But when we say that “the war is for a long time, it’s an existential war, and everyone will have to fight” – that’s another, and it’s true. It’s also true that the Israeli principle of mobilizing society is the only correct one in our situation.”
At the same time, he emphasizes that state policy creates a false perception of war:
“The authorities chose a different path: they started saying that ‘here are our boys, they are fighting, they are heroes,’ and at the same time launched a system of broad reservations, invented terms like ‘economic’, ‘cultural’ and other fronts. This laid down serious risks, the results of which we are now seeing.”.
Mobilization of 18-year-olds and inequality in the military
Gnezdilov is skeptical about a possible lowering of the mobilization age:
“The newly published conditions for the alleged “mobilization of 18-year-olds” are only deepening the crisis. The reaction of the military on social media shows the obvious: this will not solve the problem. After all, there are many people in the army who have been serving for a long time and see inequality in the recruitment of citizens into the army.”.
He believes that the state is trying to avoid unpopular decisions:
“Instead of saying, ‘Yes, we’re lowering the mobilization age, for example, to 21,’ the authorities are starting to play games like ‘voluntary mobilization.’ This creates risks.”.
Gnezdilov also expressed doubts about the effectiveness of the new contract terms:
“Signing short-term annual contracts – it is unclear how it will work. For example, my contract is until the end of martial law. And here a person signs – and he already has a clear term of service. But how will this be implemented?”
Problems of the VLK reform
According to the military, the reform of military medical commissions (MMCs) only partially solved the problem:
“The specialists of the medical and social commission are now appointed anonymously, and the “client” does not know who will consider his issue. But this is a belated decision. Everyone who could has already paid and left.”.
He emphasizes that systemic problems are resolved only after high-profile scandals:
“We could have implemented the electronic system much earlier – but we did so only after numerous scandals. We are not anticipating problems, but reacting to them after the fact. We do not have a clear plan – we are adjusting it chaotically, and this is our biggest problem.”.
