TIT NEW The recruits came from diverse backgrounds, but they shared one thing: after rudimentary training in Western Europe, none of them expected to be deployed in an assault unit on the hottest section of the defense line. Ukrainian front. Some had enlisted voluntarily, thinking they could be placed in units adapted to their profile: drone operators or gunners. Others were taken from their villages without any warning. One older recruit didn’t even get a chance to get his false teeth back. After less than a week in the trenches of Donbass, eastern Ukraine, the platoon of 20 had been reduced to six. Three had been killed in combat, three seriously wounded.
This is one of the worst recruiting stories, but it is far from isolated. Ukraine is desperate to protect its front lines against further Russian attacks. No army guarantees new recruits where they will be deployed, much less in war, and assault brigades are among the most desperate units.
But what lawyers describe as a “deployment lottery” is straining the recruiting process. Army leaders have difficulty filling positions with volunteers; some resort to conscription operations in gymnasiums and shopping centers. Few of those who enlist in this manner make good soldiers. “We receive people aged 45 to 47,” laments a senior officer. “They are out of breath when they arrive at the front line. »
Aware of the problem, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry began working on a new mobilization strategy in September. Illarion Pavliuk, a spokesperson for the ministry, believes that part of the problem lies in the success of the army: many citizens no longer perceive the war in the existential terms they did immediately after the Russian invasion in February 2022 “Some people mistakenly think that there is someone else who can do the job for them,” he says.
The reforms aim to give more choice to those who are hesitant: new recruits can, more or less, register for a specific position. A new digital register will improve the Ministry of Labor Resources of Ukraine’s understanding. There will be a clearer system of rest and rotations. Ultimately, volunteers will be mobilized for a fixed period, and not indefinitely as is currently the case.
There are several examples of successful recruitment campaigns in individual units. Perhaps the most visible is the 3rd Assault Brigade, created nine months after the start of the war as a branch of Ukraine’s special forces. Skyscraper-sized advertisements in Ukrainian cities glorify the life of one of the brigade’s stormtroopers, slaying goblin-like caricatures of evil. But no less important is the brigade’s reputation for competent command, good equipment and low attrition rates. New hires typically undergo months of training, as opposed to the standard one month.
Khrystyna Bondarenko, spokesperson for the brigade, says they have no shortage of volunteers. By early next year, the brigade will be the largest in Ukraine, she says, at about the size of a NATO division. (The Ukrainian army has no divisions.) The majority of its new recruits are under 25, and it rejects 150 applications from minors a month. “No one is saying that there are millions of people waiting to fight in Avdiivka. [a town in the Donbas that has recently seen fierce fighting],” she said. “But there are people you can work with.”
Russia is also having difficulty mobilizing the troops it needs. His tactic of throwing large numbers of men into defended positions, often without proper equipment, could result in daily casualties of up to 1,000 men. But the fundamentals point to a gigantic challenge for Ukraine. With a pool of potential soldiers roughly four times larger, Russia appears favored in the long run. In its prisons and in its poorest neighborhoods, joining the army seems rational.
Elsewhere, the Kremlin has managed to meet its minimal needs through secret recruitment for a full-scale war that it still pretends is not happening. If it were to indeed intensify its mobilization, the Kremlin would have to admit that Russia is at war. This would not be without political consequences.
Ukrainian critics of the kyiv government, meanwhile, accuse the country of “pretending to mobilize.” Viktor Kevlyuk, a retired colonel who oversaw the implementation of the mobilization policy for the western half of the country from 2014 – the date of the first Russian invasion – to 2021, says Ukraine risks falling into a trap . Russia will intensify its mobilization after the presidential election in March, he thinks. (HURthe Ukrainian military intelligence agency, is of the same opinion.)
Vladimir Putin has already signed a decree increasing the Russian armed forces by 170,000 men. Colonel Kevlyuk says Ukraine must respond with a national mobilization of industry, government and resources. According to him, the often decadent lifestyle of those who enjoy security in kyiv must change. “Now is not the time to import smoked salmon.”
Throughout the war, Volodymyr Zelensky resisted the maximalist incitements of his soldiers, much to their chagrin. Its top generals have, for example, pushed to lower the age at which non-reservists can be drafted, which is currently 27. Others have proposed stricter enforcement of mobilization laws.
The president backed down partly for political reasons: he does not want to unnecessarily irritate the population. But Mr. Zelensky is also driven by nobler concerns. “Zelensky wants to do what is right for Ukrainians,” says a senior government source. “He doesn’t want to be a dictator.”
Difficult decisions await us. For Colonel Kevlyuk, the army is a beast that must be fed: “We have no choice but to be bloodthirsty,” he says. But some managers prefer a more consensual approach. The high-level source predicts media campaigns promoting national sacrifice and warning that Russia continues to pose an existential threat. “If we lose, it will be bad for all of us,” he said.
The task is to convince potential recruits. “Driver”, one of the men deployed in the ill-fated Donbass unit, says he is determined to serve his country, “but only in a way that can be useful”. In the meantime, he is busy “24/7” securing a transfer away from the assault forces. “You can’t just erase people’s lives like that,” he said. ■