27 December 2023

Ex-Ukrainian PM Nikolay Azarov explains why Zelensky wants more troops

Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Nikolay Azarov, . . has suggested that Zelensky's mobilization wave may be an attempt to create a pretext for asking Kiev's backers in the West for more money and weapons.

MAGAZINE

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For two years, Biden and Zelenskyy have been focused on driving Russia from Ukraine. Now Washington is discussing a move to a more defensive posture.

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U.S. President Joe Biden shakes hands with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as they meet at the White House.

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27 Dec, 2023 14:07

Ex-Ukrainian PM explains why Zelensky wants more troops

Kiev is looking to place everyone who is the appropriate age under arms, Nikolay Azarov says

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky is looking to mobilize another half a million men so that he could have grounds to demand more money from his Western backers, former Ukrainian Prime Minister Nikolay Azarov has argued.

During his press-conference last week, Zelensky claimed that the leadership of the Ukrainian Armed Forces had proposed to him to recruit an additional “450,000-500,000 individuals” amid the conflict with Russia.

However, on Tuesday, Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Valery Zaluzhny denied ever voicing such numbers to the president.
Zaluzhny said that the military knows how many people it would require to mobilize next year, but declined to name the exact figure.

Kiev sees drafting half a million men as its “the main task” at the moment, Azarov wrote in a post on Facebook on Wednesday.

They believe that “everything must be done to ensure that everyone who is of appropriate age is mobilized,” he added.

According to the former PM, Zelensky “needs this in order to demand both money and weapons from the West.”

In this case, the Ukrainian leader could say “you see, we’re gathering an army of half a million. It must be equipped, it must be armed. These are huge costs and expenses,” he explained.

Estonia has found a pretext to stop feeding Ukrainians – Moscow

Azarov served as Ukraine’s prime minister between 2010 and 2014.

He fled to Russia after the government of former President Viktor Yanukovich was deposed in the Western-backed Maidan coup.

Kiev needs to mobilize half a million men to cover casualties and form new units over the next 12 months, the secretary of Ukraine’s parliamentary national security committee, Roman Kostenko, said on Monday. Eligible Ukrainians won’t be able to escape the call up, he warned.

Earlier this week, Zelensky’s government submitted changes to the country’s mobilization law, including reduction of the conscription age from 27 to 25 and the introduction of electronic summons. Some Ukrainian outlets reported on Wednesday that the bill was going to be reworked before the PMs voted on it in mid-January.

According to Russia’s estimates, some 400,000 Ukrainian troops have been killed or wounded since the start of the conflict in February 2022, including 125,000 during Kiev’s failed counteroffensive between early June and late November.

The flow of funds and weapons from Kiev’s main backer, the US, has decreased sharply in recent months as Republican lawmakers continue to resist attempts by President Joe Biden to push through another $60 billion in assistance for Ukraine.

Ukraine minister 'doesn't understand' why the military needs donations

RT.com
28th December 2023, 05:49 GMT+11

Kiev's troops should have everything they need from the state, Sergey Marchenko has said

It is unclear why Kiev's troops may lack some necessary equipment and have to rely on paying out of pocket or on donations, Ukrainian Finance Minister Sergey Marchenko told Forbes on Wednesday.

The minister was asked during an interview with the outlet to explain why Ukrainian troops had to rely on millions of hryvnias collected by civilian volunteers and sometimes pay for supplies themselves.

Marchenko replied that he himself "doesn't understand" why Ukrainians were still raising funds for the military, noting that the government currently spends some five billion hryvnias ($132 million) from the state budget every single day to fund the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
No volunteers or non-governmental organizations could possibly provide anything close to that amount, he added.

Between that and funding by local authorities in various regions, there should be more than enough to provide Ukrainian troops with all they need, the minister said, noting that military warehouses should also have sufficient quantities of weapons, ammunition, and equipment.

"It's hard for me to comment on these things that I myself don't completely understand," Marchenko said, noting that such questions need to be asked of those who are tasked with delivering the equipment to the soldiers.
Asked to comment on Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenesky's recent announcement that Kiev would mobilize an additional 500,000 people, Marchenko said the Finance Ministry has not yet received any detailed information about such plans.

However, he noted that it was unclear where the money to finance the mobilization drive would come from. Drafting another half a million people would cost Kiev approximately 500 billion hryvnias ($13.2 billion), he said.

"Ask someone who can give the answer. If you want to hear it from me, I, unfortunately, cannot say that I am ready to work in the 'provide at any cost' format," Marchenko said.

He did note that mobilizing that many people would lead to a reduction of the country's GDP and a loss of tax revenues.

Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Nikolay Azarov, however, has suggested that Zelensky's mobilization wave may be an attempt to create a pretext for asking Kiev's backers in the West for more money and weapons.