Kiev has been trying to raise 500,000 troops to replace battlefield losses
Ukraine is sending untrained conscripts to their deaths on the frontline even after promising them otherwise, the US outlet Daily Beast has reported, citing interviews with several men who have been avoiding mobilization.
President Vladimir Zelensky announced last month that the military needed another half a million people to make up for losses in the conflict with Russia. His top general, Valery Zaluzhny, has told lawmakers they need to hurry up with a new mobilization law or he would run out of troops to fight with.
”I hear a lot of stories of people who are being taken on the streets and are pushed to the frontline without much training, and I have even heard stories of people being sent without training and being killed after just a few days,” a 31-year-old hiding from recruiters in Western Ukraine – introduced only as ‘Sergei’ – told the Daily Beast. “I will try to avoid that for as long as possible. I want to have a future.”
”I might be able to help the army in some ways, which is not at the frontline, but I cannot trust that they will not bring me directly to the frontline,” he added.
’Alex’ enlisted last year, but was sent home because there were too many volunteers, he told the outlet. The 27-year-old said he would not volunteer again, because he feared being used as “cannon fodder.”