Ukrainian Army To Use Commercial Recruitment Firms For More Targeted Conscription

As Ukraine prepares to face another winter at war with neighbouring Russia, amid widespread fatigue at the front and in the society at large, the government is planning to change its conscription practices in a drive to sustain fighting capacity.

The changes will include the use of commercial recruitment firms to carry out more targeted conscription and to reassure conscripts they will be deployed in roles that match their skills and not simply sent to the front, a senior official revealed.

Russian Propaganda Exaggerating The Scale Of The Issue: Danilov

Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine’s security council, told the Guardian, “now we have a new minister with a new approach.” In September, President Volodymyr Zelensky sacked Oleksii Reznikov, who had been defence minister since the beginning of the conflict.

Rustem Umerov, who spent the early part of the war working on doomed negotiations with Russia, has inherited the ministry plagued by scandal. On Friday, Zelensky said Umerov’s ministry is expected to provide a package of new mobilisation policies this week.

Danilov said the army will be using the help of recruitment firms to identify people with specific skills as well as to discourage skilled Ukrainians who wanted to help the military but did not want to go to the front from trying to evade the draft.

The secretary of Ukraine’s security council admitted there was a recruitment issue, but noted that Russian propaganda was exaggerating the scale of the issue. “Russia is trying to heat up this issue … There are always problems in life, let’s not overestimate it,” he added.

Elaborating On The Problem

In the first months of the brutal Russian invasion, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians voluntered to fight. But as the war has dragged on, most people who are willing to fight have already signed up and the many of those already at the front are exhausted or injured.

The army has had to turn to mobilisation to fill the ranks. Several men have been seen in viral videos being snatched from the streets to be conscripted. There have also been numerous corruption scandals of officials taking bribes to provide exemption.