Ukraine and the Mobilisation Challenge
The strategic implications for Ukraine, as well other nations experiencing recruiting problems with their military forces.
Late last year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy raised the option of mobilisation for his nation's war effort.
Speaking on December 1, he also described how military recruiting reform was necessary, noting that "everyone in Ukraine understands that changes are needed in this area. It's not just about the number of those who can be mobilised. It's about terms – for everyone currently in the military – for demobilisation – and for those who will join the military."
Able to rely on a huge influx of volunteers from Ukraine and abroad in the first year of the war, Ukraine has since had a rolling approach to mobilising its people for service in the military. This has been criticised for inefficiency and corrupt practices, and because of this, President Zelenskyy sacked the regional commissars responsible for military recruiting in August 2023. More recently, there have been accusations of Ukrainians being "press-ganged" into military service.
A draft mobilisation bill was presented to the Ukrainian parliament on Christmas Eve. It outlined lowering the age limit of conscripts from 27 to 25, ending service exclusions for people with minor disabilities, legalising digital draft notices and restricting the ability of draft dodgers to conduct financial transactions.
The Ukrainian commander in chief, General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, has described the new law as essential to his ability to rotate exhausted frontline troops, raise new formations for future offensives, and give serving troops some light at the end of the tunnel for when their service might conclude.
The proposed law has been criticised by politicians, as well as the Ukrainian parliament's human rights commissioner for being unconstitutional. A new version of the draft law is likely to go to the Ukrainian parliament in early February.
But even if the mobilisation bill is approved by the Ukrainian parliament and the president, Ukraine faces an array of challenges in its implementation.
You can read the full story published today, including the broader implications of the mobilisation bill for Ukraine’s war effort as well as what other countries with recruiting challenges might learn, here for free at ABC Australia.
The age old question not just of recruitment, but also treating recruits with human dignity and respect. And proving an avenue for the best and brightest to advance. This is not just military thing, but a wider institutional problem. And those that are well established, dare I say sclerotic, in military and other institutions often lose the ability to see talents, tend to be abusive (that is why by they have stayed where they are), and yes corrupt, though the means of corruption may differ significantly depending on context.
From a national security posture, it is not just about numbers, but qualities, abilities, and making such a career decision (let’s face it, it is a career decision) attractive to potential recruits. This means militaries need to start looking at themselves first and ask the questions, “Would I join in the current environment? What can make this more attractive? What is not attractive about this?” But is this happening in any major western military?