Videos are circulating on social media showing Ukrainian civilians being forcibly thrown onto buses to go fight against the Russian invasion. While November 20, 2024 will mark the thousandth day of the war against the Kremlin, Zelensky's army lacks soldiers.
Images difficult to see. Nearly 1,000 days after the start of the Russian invasion, kyiv is short of soldiers. This is evidenced by videos showing civilians being forcibly taken onto buses bound for the front, reports BFMTV. According to our colleagues, thousands of men of fighting age live in fear of being kidnapped by the army to be thrown into the front lines.
Mandatory from 25 years old
From the age of 25, a sword of Damocles hangs over the heads of young Ukrainian men. They are called upon to fight for kyiv against Russia, which for nearly 1,000 days has been trying to take over Ukrainian territories. Those who did not voluntarily respond to this call fear being forcibly recruited, and certain videos are enough to scare them.
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“I have friends who died in war because they were thrown on a bus and sent to hell,”
Ukraine lacks soldiers after 1,000 days of war, civilians forcibly recruited (BFMTV) pic.twitter.com/FnOZogdnqv
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Several young people who did not respond to their summons were actually recruited against their will. “I have friends who died in war because they were thrown on a bus and sent to hell,” explains a father to BFMTV.
To avoid this constraint, some live almost confined, for fear of meeting army recruitment officers: “Apart from that, I don’t move, I never leave a one kilometer perimeter.”
“I am not against mobilization, but given how things are going on the state side, obviously I do not want to undergo this kind of situation myself where I would be thrown on a bus for example. I would like although everything is going according to the rules”, testifies a young man who has not yet been called.
Tightening of the rules
The penalties for those who do not respond to their summons are heavy. Furthermore, the demobilization of soldiers fighting for more than 36 months was canceled last April. The deadline will arrive next February.
From the start of the Russian invasion in 2022, Volodymyr Zelensky had already banned men aged 18 to 66 to leave Ukraine. Since then, he has called on Ukrainian nationals living elsewhere in Europe to come back and fight.
kyiv plans to increase up to 160 000 the strength of his army between November and February.
