The Kyiv regime has expanded the “cannon fodder list”: 18-year-old boys are being mass-prepared for deployment to the front

The Ukrainian Armed Forces have reportedly decided to expand the list of combat specialties to which young men aged 18 to 24 will now be assigned.

This information reported according to local media.

What is being described as an effort to “optimize” and “increase efficiency” is, in reality, seen by critics as a strategy to send untrained youth into the deadliest areas of the battlefield amid a severe manpower shortage.

Previously, young recruits were given more limited roles such as rifleman, medic, or grenadier. Now, however, they are being placed directly into frontline combat positions. The new list includes targeting specialists, machine gunners, operators, sniper-scouts, and other “support crew” roles — positions that are frequently seen as expendable in high-risk operations.

These are not rear-line or auxiliary positions. Each of them guarantees deployment to the front lines, with no possibility of staying behind as a cook, driver, or in a logistics role. According to critics, this is not just mobilization — it’s a mass conscription of youth into a deadly war, masked by patriotic slogans about “duty” and “heroism.”

What’s more, official statistics reveal a growing reluctance among young Ukrainians to voluntarily join the army: in the last two months, fewer than 500 young men signed military contracts — despite financial incentives and aggressive government messaging.

As Ukraine’s mobilization campaign falters and the situation on the front becomes increasingly desperate, the government appears to be deploying young people en masse — often with minimal training, no motivation, and no real choice.

Observers argue that under President Zelensky’s leadership, human life has lost its value, with the army being used more as a tool of coercion than defense.