The United States asks Ukraine to increase military mobilization to fight Russia

2024-11-28 08:34:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The United States is urging Ukraine to mobilize more soldiers to bolster its units in the nearly three-year war against Russian forces, saying Kiev should lower the military service age from 25 to 18.

"The need right now is for recruits," a US official told reporters on Wednesday. "The Russians are actually making progress, steady progress, in the east and are starting to push back the line of Ukrainian forces in Kursk," the Russian region that Ukraine took in August in an attack that surprised Moscow.

"Mobilizing more recruits could make a significant difference at this time, if we look at the battlefield today," the official said.

More than 1 million Ukrainians are already mobilized in the military, including the National Guard and other units. The U.S. official said the Ukrainians believe they need about 160,000 additional forces, but the U.S. administration said they will probably need more than that.

The US official said the "clear mathematics" of Ukraine's situation now is that it needs more forces in the war, a position supported by other Western capitals that have supplied Ukraine with weapons.

In April, Ukraine lowered its age of eligibility for men from 27 to 25, a change expected to add 50,000 troops, far short of what Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said was needed at the time.

Some Ukrainians have expressed concern that lowering the draft age for men to 18, which is also the mandatory registration age in the United States, would drive more young people out of the workforce and further hurt the economy. war-torn country.

The US official said the administration of President Joe Biden, who leaves office in less than two months, believes Ukraine can also optimize its current force by dealing more aggressively with soldiers who desert or are absent without leave. .

Moreover, Ukraine's European allies have pointed out that the absence of Ukrainian forces could soon make it untenable for Ukraine to maintain a presence in Kursk.

The situation in Kursk has been complicated by the arrival of thousands of North Korean forces, deployed there to help Moscow as it tries to retake territory Ukraine seized nearly four months ago. The extent of continued US support for Ukraine's war effort is uncertain as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office on January 20.

President-elect Trump has vowed to end the war before taking office, but has not said how.

On the battlefield, Ukrainian officials said Wednesday that Russian forces launched 89 drones in a wave of overnight attacks that left three people injured in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev. Ukraine said it shot down 36 unmanned aerial vehicles.

Serhiy Popko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, said on Telegram that falling parts from a downed drone damaged a building.

Russia's Defense Ministry said it shot down 47 Ukrainian drones over the Black Sea, Russian-occupied Crimea and elsewhere.

There were no reports of major damage from the attacks in Ukraine.

"The only effective way to protect ourselves from this is to eliminate Russian weapons and Russian missiles directly on Russian territory," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his evening speech.

Escalation of fighting

At the United Nations on Wednesday, the UN Security Council discussed the latest escalation in the war, including Russia's use of a new medium-range ballistic missile against the Ukrainian city of Dnipro.

"In the past few days alone, 495 drones were launched by Russia, along with Iskandar ballistic missiles and Kh-59/69 air-to-ground missiles," Ukrainian Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya told the Security Council.

Ambassador Kyslytsya said stronger sanctions against Moscow are called for and he urged countries to provide Ukraine with increased military aid.

"Russia must understand that any of its attempts to expand the war will have consequences," he said.

The Russian envoy said Kiev and its backers in the United States and the West, which recently authorized Ukraine to use Western-made missiles deep into Russian territory, are responsible for any escalation.

"The West since that moment provoked a regional conflict in Ukraine, which has now taken on a global nature," said Russia's deputy ambassador to the UN, Dmitry Polyanskiy, adding that "any wave of escalation from the West will receive a firm response."

Washington's envoy said it is providing Ukraine with hundreds of additional Patriot and AMRAAM missiles to bolster its air defenses as the war with Russia widens.

"The United States will continue to increase security assistance to Ukraine to strengthen its capabilities, including air defense, and to put Ukraine in the best possible position on the battlefield," Mr. Wood said.

Diplomats also expressed concern about the introduction of thousands of North Korean forces into the war, in aid of Russia.

In return for sending its forces, my government estimates that North Korea has received from Russia, not only economic benefits, but also missiles and anti-aircraft equipment, to strengthen its weak air defense systems," the Korean ambassador said. of the South, Joonkook Hwang.

He said Russia's support for North Korea would encourage it to intensify its nuclear weapons efforts, further destabilizing the Korean Peninsula.

"North Korea is preparing to transfer even more ballistic missiles" to Russia for use against Ukraine, Ambassador Wood warned. "We also have information that a large number of long-range mobile artillery, 170-millimeter projectiles of North Korean origin and 240-millimeter long-range multiple rocket launchers are entering the conflict."

He said Washington also has information that Russia has sent air defense systems to North Korea.

VOA correspondent Margaret Besheer contributed from New York to this article. Some of the data was obtained from the news agencies Associated Press and Reuters./ Voa