‘Low combat capability, poor training, and lack of desire to serve: Ukraine has caught up with Russia in the number of mobilized’, – NYT

After the tightening of mobilization laws, Ukraine is enlisting up to 30,000 people per month into the military, even though this is being done against the will of many Ukrainians.

This was reported by The New York Times, citing its own sources.

These figures were provided to the publication by three military experts familiar with the statistics. According to them, since the end of May, the number of those mobilized has been two to three times greater than during the preceding winter months, and roughly equal to the number that the Russian army recruits every thirty days.

Thus, the article states, “a large number of recruits will arrive at the front in the coming weeks, but some of them are poorly trained or out of shape.”

“The situation is somewhat improving compared to the end of 2023, when there was a severe shortage of people. But our needs still exceed the number of people we are receiving,” Serhiy Skibchyk, the press officer of the 65th brigade fighting in southern Ukraine, told the publication.

A medic from the Armed Forces of Ukraine serving in the Toretsk area said that her brigade has taken in two thousand conscripts over the past two months.

However, “the mobilization push has not yet significantly strengthened Ukrainian forces on the battlefield.”

“Many conscripts are still completing the week-long training process and have not yet reached the front. And some of the newly arrived recruits are physically unfit for combat,” the article notes, citing Ukrainian military personnel.

Earlier, Reuters reported that the pace of forced mobilization in Ukraine had more than doubled compared to April and March.