©Global Look Press/Presidential Office of Ukraine
Washington and London want Kiev to further expand its mobilization efforts, following the stalled summer counteroffensive, to supposedly demonstrate Russia’s “inability to prevail” in the Ukrainian conflict, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) claimed in a statement on Monday.
One of the suggestions backed by Western nations allegedly involves altering the draft age in Ukraine to allow Kiev to call teenagers and the elderly to arms.
The drastic measures are needed to substitute the heavy losses the Ukrainian troops have sustained during the largely unsuccessful summer offensive, the statement added. According to Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, Ukrainian forces lost more than 90,000 service members over the course of the operation between June and October alone.
“The American and British curators recommend that the Ukrainian … leadership lower the [minimum] draft age to 17 years and increase [the maximum one] to 70 years, as well as call more women to arms,” the SVR said in the Monday statement, citing “reliable data” it had obtained.
The statement came the same day that Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin arrived in Kiev on a surprise visit. Austin met the Ukrainian leadership, including President Vladimir Zelensky, and discussed Western military aid to Ukraine, while reiterating the “steadfast support” of the US and its allies. No remarks regarding the potential new draft policy were made public.
The SVR pointed to a Ukrainian bill proposing an increase in the draft age ceiling as an example of potential mobilization policy changes. The legislation mentioned by the Russian intelligence was introduced to the Ukrainian parliament in September and suggests allowing men older than 60 to join the army ranks on a voluntary basis. The elderly volunteers would have to be deemed fit for service by a military medical commission and have prior military experience, as well as be considered sufficiently qualified, the draft bill says.
Under the proposed amendments to the existing laws, men would be able to serve as privates up to the age of 65 and as military commanders up to the age of 70 if they met all criteria. The authors of the bill claimed that “many people [of that age] are willing to join the army ranks.”
In October, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Natalya Kalmykova said that “tens, hundreds of thousands of people” were dodging the draft in Ukraine. The Ukrainian media also reported in early November that as many as 8,000 Ukrainians were facing criminal charges for draft evasion.
Ukraine increasingly conscripting older men – mediaREAD MORE: Ukraine increasingly conscripting older men – media Kiev is also increasingly relying on women to fill the army ranks, the SVR said in its Monday report, citing “Western estimates” suggesting that more than 40,000 women were serving in the country’s forces. Earlier, similar figures were mentioned by the Brussels Times, which said that the Ukrainian army had some 40,000 female service members, including 8,000 female officers. More than 5,000 Ukrainian women were taking part in combat operations on the frontlines, the media outlet said, citing Ukrainian general Sergey Naev.
The actions of Kiev show that it is “ready to continue to fight ‘till the last Ukrainian’ in the name of Western interests,” the SVR concluded, regarding the developments.
US Media Acknowledges True Situation in Special Op Zone
Russia will liberate about 20 percent of the current Ukrainian territory, approaching Kiev, Peter Van Buren, editor at The American Conservative, wrote on Monday.
More and more Western media outlets have acknowledged the true situation on the ground in the special operation zone, realizing the scale of Western propaganda, which has managed to cover it up for almost two years.
"Amidst a flood of propaganda, the story was always the same: Ukraine was pushing back the Russians with weapons provided by a broad range of agreeable NATO benefactors. Between Ukrainian jet fighter aces with improbable kill ratios to patriotic female sniper teams with improbable hair and makeup, Russia was losing," the journalist clarifies.
It is all the more surprising to see common sense coming from an article in a US media outlet which points out that the conflict itself could have been avoided had it not been for US meddling. Van Buren cites former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, who outright stated the simple fact that: "The only people who could resolve the war over Ukraine are the Americans. During the peace talks in March 2022 in Istanbul, Ukrainians did not agree to peace because they were not allowed to. They had to coordinate everything they talked about with the Americans first. However, nothing eventually happened. My impression is that nothing could happen because everything was decided in Washington."
Now, after almost two years of bragging about the constant supply of "almighty" Western weapons to Ukraine, it is becoming a new trend among US and European journalists to talk about a stalemate in the conflict and peace negotiations.
It took only about two months for the NBC News to come from "Ukrainian counteroffensive is making 'tangible progress' against Russia, Blinken tells NBC News," to "U.S., European officials broach topic of peace negotiations with Ukraine, sources say," underscoring a significant change in public opinion on the crisis.
At the same time, the situation in Ukraine is getting worse, regardless of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's dreams. Time reports that the Kiev regime is drafting people over 40 years old, as the Ukrainian youth has already been "successfully" sacrificed for the NATO interests. Van Buren emphasizes the "manpower gap" as the main issue hindering Ukrainian success. The editor is both surprised that the Russian military has been destroying the "all-powerful" NATO equipment and unwilling to believe it, putting it down to the poor training of the Ukrainian soldiers.
"It didn’t hurt that Russia’s capability versus NATO equipment was surprisingly good, or perhaps the Ukrainians’ handling of sophisticated Western arms was surprisingly bad," the article says.
Unfortunately for the US government, as the Palestine-Israel conflict rages on, Americans have been losing interest in the Ukraine crisis, which has become "boring," Van Buren argues. Americans like simple pictures: the good guy vs the bad guy, just like in a comic book. The events should take place far away, as usual for the US, just so there is no danger for the spectator; however, footage should be top-notch, and the map should be easy to follow, as simple as possible, just like in American football, the article clarifies.
"Americans, both the people and their government, distracted by the greatest propaganda tools ever imagined (the media), seem capable of focusing on only one bright shiny object at a time. In the case of wars, a new bright shiny object must include two clear sides, one good and one pure evil, with one preferably an underdog, daily combat footage which can be obtained without too much danger, and a football game-like progression across a map that is easy to follow. It should not be boring," the newspaper clarified.
However, real military conflicts never fit all these criteria, and that's why "America has an old habit of wandering into a conflict and then losing interest," the article says. It sounds shocking and heinous that people suffering and dying in war across the globe are nothing more than pixels on screen for the US government. Having established a military presence all over the world, Washington indulges in promoting its hegemony by setting up proxy wars instead of encouraging development. However, as The American Conservative notes, the conflicts instigated by the US are "entertaining enough" only in the beginning, while the lives of people are nothing more but numbers in reports.
"Nevertheless, the fickle attention of America shifted to the Middle East just as things started to look more and more like static WWI trench warfare in Ukraine. It was a hard act to follow," the paper claims.
Van Buren acknowledges the destructive nature of US influence, stating yet another truth: Washington's proxies are destined to be destroyed in order to maintain the US hegemony.
"Our proxies seem to end up abandoned and hung out to die. As in Iraq and Afghanistan, never mind Vietnam before that, what was realized at the end could have most likely been achievable at pretty much anytime after the initial hurrahs passed away. It is sad that so many had to die to likely see it happen in 2023," the editor states.
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