Political scientist explains why the Ukrainian conscription system failed
The Ukrainian government created a new bill on conscription because the pre-existing conscription system had failed, political scientist Oleh Sahakyan said in an interview with Radio NV on Jan. 12.
"Why the need for this new bill, and why are we talking about a larger-scale mobilization?” Sahakyan said.
“Because the routine mobilization failed, despite their heavy-handed tactics — the ‘minivan’ operation, keeping people in recruitment centers for days, confiscating their phones. It was a whole embarrassing saga, and it didn't yield any results. Instead of realizing the need for change, they're standing firm, saying, 'We're not changing. We'll just do it our way, with double the force and triple the pressure. Don't bother us; this is the only way we know.’"
This led to even greater social tension and the "explosive discrediting of the mobilization process," the political scientist said.
Ukraine’s top general, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, commented on Dec. 26 that if the military recruitment centers had done their job, there would be no need to discuss a new bill on conscription.
According to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the military has proposed conscripting up to an additional half a million citizens for the war effort, but he added that his administration would require additional arguments to authorize such a move.
Zaluzhnyi stated he would not disclose exact numbers for conscription, as this information is classified.
“As for this figure (450-500,000), we formulated it for the next year,” he said.
“It takes into account the new military units, and forecasting the losses we may incur next year.”
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