War in Ukraine | Kyiv reforms its recruitment efforts to attract young people aged 18 to 25

(Kyiv) Ukraine is in the process of finalizing the drafting of recruitment reforms to attract young people aged 18 to 25 who are currently exempt from mobilization, while seeing means to strengthen its combat forces, said the Battlefish commander recently appointed to the president’s office.

In his first interview with the foreign media since his taking office last fall, the deputy chief of the president’s office, Colonel Pavlo Palisa, said that Ukraine is studying new recruitment options, because the current conscription system Inherited from the Soviet era hinders progress.

Although Ukraine adopted a mobilization law last spring and lowered the age of conscription from 27 to 25 years, the measures did not have the necessary impact to reconstruct its ranks or replace the losses on the battlefield in his war against Russia.

One of the initiatives is what Mr. Palisa described as an “honest contract”, a plan that includes financial incentives, clear guarantees for training and measures to ensure dialogue between soldiers and their commanders. The plan mainly aims to attract young people aged 18 to 25 who are currently exempt from mobilization and will also target Ukrainians who are entitled to a stay or who were demobilized after the adoption of the Mobilization Act.

“To secure the unit commander and the contract under contract, it is necessary to establish open and professional relationships between them and set clear limits that are understandable for both,” he said on Wednesday. “In my opinion, it is essential for an effective dialogue. »»

This effort which is in its final phase, according to Mr. Palisa, could help respond to the calls launched by the administrations of Joe Biden and Donald Trump according to which Ukraine could increase its workforce by lowering the age of conscription.

Citizens’ duty

The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky categorically opposed the implementation of compulsory mobilization from 18 years old, affirming that this would radically affect the future prospects of the country tired by the war.

“Right now, I think we have to start an open dialogue with the company,” said Palisa. Because the defense of the State is not only the responsibility of the armed forces. It is the duty of each Ukrainian citizen, and it is his obligation. »»

Mr. Palisa said that his office, in collaboration with the cabinet and the Ministry of Defense, examines the reasons why mobilization efforts have failed.

Mr. Palisa went directly from the battlefield to the president’s office. He considers his appointment as an attempt to tackle systemic problems within the army. Member of a new generation of Ukrainian military leaders, he studied at the American army command and staff college when Russia has launched its large-scale invasion.

He graduated from a distance in the summer of 2022 while he was fighting on the front line. He then ordered the 93^e Brigade “Kholodnyi Yar”, during the exhausting battle of nine months for Bakhmout.

“It is a unique opportunity to attract the attention of the highest leaders of the country to urgent military issues,” he said, adding that he intended to return to the battlefield once Its mission completed.

While Russia continues to progress in the Donetsk region, some analysts have underlined the structural weaknesses of the Ukrainian command system and the communication difficulties between units on the front line as the key factors of the Ukraine struggle To keep the territory along the 1000 km in front.

Since the start of Moscow’s large -scale invasion, the Ukrainian army has developed considerably, but years of resistance to Russian advances have left strategic management for a short time – a void that now threatens to compromise the chances success of Ukraine.

Mr. Palisa says it is urgent to make reforms to improve coordination and efficiency.

« [Nous devons] Adapting the structure to the logic of modern war, which will allow us to be more effective and will prevent us from repeating the same mistakes, he argued. This is what to do. There is no other way. »»