Zelenskyy on mobilisation: If half of army goes home, we should have surrendered on first day of war
Pravda Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated that martial law entails the mobilisation of citizens aged 25 and older. He emphasised that Russia should be forced to end the war as soon as possible to bring the Ukrainian soldiers home.
Source: Zelenskyy in an interview with Italian journalist Cecilia Sala for Italian newspaper Il Foglio
Quote from Zelenskyy: “Under the law, mobilisation today involves citizens aged 25 and older. The mobilisation is underway and it provides a sufficient number of people in this age group. They are on rotation and have leave time, but it is still not enough. Clearly, we need to work on improving the quality of this process.”
Details: Zelenskyy said that there are requests to let Ukrainian soldiers go home, but current legislation does not allow for this. “Martial law implies the mobilisation of people and all available resources in the country – absolutely everything,” he explained.
Quote from Zelenskyy: “This is, unfortunately, the challenge of this war and why it is essential to bring it to an end as quickly as possible, to force Russia to stop. Today, we are defending ourselves. If, for example, tomorrow half of the army just goes home, we should have surrendered on day one. That is the reality. If half of our people leave tomorrow, Putin will kill us all.”
For reference: At the president’s request, the Ukrainian parliament has been extending martial law and general mobilisation in Ukraine since February 2022. As a result, martial law and mobilisation have been in effect in Ukraine for nearly three years following Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Background: On 15 January, the Ukrainian parliament voted in favour of draft laws to extend martial law and mobilisation in Ukraine from 8 February to 9 May 2025.
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