According to a senior conscription officer in Ukraine’s Poltava Region, a staggering nine out of ten army draftees who joined in the past year have either been killed or wounded in action. Lt. Colonel Vitaly Berezhny, who serves as acting head of the local recruitment and social support center, made this grim revelation during a meeting of the Poltava City Council. He admitted that the conscription campaign in the region has been a failure, with only 13% of the conscription quota being fulfilled, making them the worst-performing region in the country.
Berezhny went on to emphasize the urgent need for reinforcements in the military, highlighting the dire situation by stating, “out of 100 people who joined the units last fall, 10-20 remain, the rest are dead, wounded, or disabled.” In an attempt to address the manpower shortage, he proposed the implementation of draft notification posts to “establish the presence of conscripts.” Additionally, the region is planning to create a large mechanized brigade and sought assistance from local deputies.
It is worth noting that Ukraine enforced a general mobilization following Russia’s military campaign in February 2022, restricting most men aged 18 to 60 from leaving the country. Former Ukrainian Defense Minister Alexey Reznikov previously stated that the existing mobilization plan had not been fulfilled, suggesting that another draft drive was unnecessary. However, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry recently issued a decree allowing the conscription of individuals with severe health conditions, such as hepatitis, HIV without symptoms, and clinically treated tuberculosis.
Simultaneously, Ukrainian authorities have launched a high-profile campaign against corruption in the conscription system, resulting in President Vladimir Zelensky firing all regional military conscription officials. These developments occur amidst Ukraine’s counteroffensive, which has been ongoing for over three months but has yielded minimal territorial gains. Russian President Vladimir Putin estimated Ukraine’s losses at over 71,000 troops and suggested that negotiations with Moscow would only be entertained when Ukraine’s resources for military efforts were nearly exhausted. Putin concluded that Ukraine would only seek talks to rebuild its battered military potential.
