fizziester posted:

Source: Radio Free Europe

https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-mobilization-law-criticism-manpower/32903913.html

Many Critics, Few Enthusiasts As Ukraine Moves To Fill The Ranks For The Fight Against Russia's Invasion\
By Aleksander Palikot
April 13, 2024 12:19 GMT

KYIV -- Dmytro Yasynok showed up at the recruitment office of the Da Vinci Wolves Battalion two days after a Russian bomb hit the center of his hometown of Bilopillya. The 27-year-old civil-law lecturer came to Kyiv from Sumy, more than 300 kilometers east, near the Russian border, to join the ranks of a popular unit that promises recruits real training and decent service conditions.

His hands shook as he went through a 20-minute interview with a recruiter, held in an art-deco drama theater in the capital. He'd prefer to be a sniper, a drone operator, or a combat medic. But with no military experience, he will most likely have to serve in a basic infantry position, the recruiter, Maksym, told RFE/RL.

Yasynok will soon spend a trial week at a training center, and then officially join up or head back home. As the third spring since the Russian full-scale invasion blooms, millions of Ukrainians like him struggle to find their place in a stark wartime reality that's getting harder and harder for civilians to escape.

On April 11, after months of delays and heated debate, the Ukrainian parliament approved a mobilization bill seeking to replenish the country's army and address some of the burning issues. The legislation, which President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is expected to sign, comes as the depleted Ukrainian forces suffer setbacks on the front lines amid a shortage of ammunition and a lack of new U.S. weapons supplies leaves the country increasingly vulnerable to Russian attacks.

With many of the initial proposals on sanctions for draft evasion watered down and other widely expected measures excluded from the bill -- above all a framework for the demobilization of exhausted soldiers -- its many critics argue it will not fix a recruitment system that is widely regarded as broken.


'Busification'

The method of recruitment offered by the Da Vinci Wolves Battalion, which unlike most other units carries out its own recruitment campaign -- the slogan: "Everyone will fight" -- bears little resemblance to the realities of the draft in Ukraine. The days when volunteers were lining up in front of the military enlistment offices after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022 are long gone.

A month ago, Tymofiy, 28, was working as a project manager in the IT industry in the western city of Lviv, which has been targeted in missile attacks but is far from the front. Now he lives in barracks in central Ukraine and is training for the war.

He wouldn't be here if not for a trip to the Carpathian Mountains, where he was stopped by conscription officers -- most of them veterans with visible war wounds -- who bundled him onto a bus and drove him to an enlistment office. Within a few hours, he had been interviewed, photographed, and examined by a medical commission.

"It's what people call 'busification,'" Tymofiy told RFE/RL -- one of the ways the military snares mobilization-age men off the streets as it struggles to fill the ranks...


... Yuriy, 34, was drafted in February during a business trip to Chernivtsi, a city about 40 kilometers from the Romanian border. He said he was approached by men in uniforms and told he needed to register at the draft office, as he was in the border area.

As an employee of a pharmaceutical company working with the Health Ministry, he had a document exempting him from military service, but recruiters at the draft office said they couldn't open the file on their computer. The medical commission qualified him as fit for service despite his severe nearsightedness...


... He keeps a high spirit although he believes that most people around him were drafted unwillingly, their morale is low, many of them have weak health, and the army organization is poor. He recently finished military training abroad. He wanted to operate a drone, but he would operate anti-tank weapons...


... No Demobilization Framework

The day before the Rada vote, it became clear that a provision outlining rules for the demobilization of those currently serving in the armed forces would not be included, a big blow to soldiers exhausted by months and years of warfare -- and to their families as well...'


... A Workable Compromise?

The initial response to the bill suggests that it's a compromise that few Ukrainians fully approve of -- and that some doubt will be workable.

Maryana Bezuhla, a deputy from Servant of the People, said that the law was "as soft and confusing as possible" and that while it leaves a lot of avenues to postpone or avoid the draft "not everyone is satisfied anyway" and "months were lost" before it came to a vote.

Volodymyr Vyatrovych, a deputy from the opposition European Solidarity party, said the bill was not only "bad but also belated."

"[It] will not strengthen the mobilization of new [soldiers] but may well weaken the motivation of those who have been defending the country for years," he said.

It's getting a lukewarm reception in the military as well. Maksym Zhorin, a deputy commander of the 3rd Assault Brigade, warned not to expect miracles on the battlefield. "For sure, it will generally bring a little more order and systemic approach to the issue of mobilization," he said on television, but he added, "Personally, I would make it much tougher and also continue to reduce the conscription age."...


... According to Zelenskiy, there are 880,000 soldiers in the armed forces. It is not clear how many of them are actually fighting. In February, Zelenskiy said that 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed since February 2022. Other estimates, including from U.S. officials citing intelligence, are much higher -- up to 70,000 killed and 120,000 wounded.

V. Illych L. posted:

i love how the two units to which they specifically talk are both explicitly fascist far-right outfits

supersnowman posted:

The other units aren't allowed to talk to the media.

Regarde Aduck posted:

gently caress this tiny clown man

i'm bored of him now, i think Russia should use a special shahed on him that makes him even smaller

Gripweed posted:

Navalny’s new memoirs are now available for preorder.

dk2m posted:

all of the Ukraine flags have been taken down where I live, I don’t know if that’s because people have checked out or if they don’t want to advertise a potential draftee living there. things are going well

dk2m posted:

all of the Ukraine flags have been taken down where I live, I don’t know if that’s because people have checked out or if they don’t want to advertise a potential draftee living there. things are going well

Gripweed posted:

Navalny’s new memoirs are now available for preorder.

Lord of Pie posted:

the only Ukraine flag I've seen lately was on someone's doghouse, not sure what that signifies

DJJIB-DJDCT posted:

I need to take a picture of the house flying a giant ROC flag on one corner and Ukraine’s on the other.

Lord of Pie posted:

Canada should stick to their strengths and just build another memorial for Nazis without any added subtext

Torpor posted:

Didn't the memorial to nazis look an awful lot like a broken fascis?

Lord of Pie posted:

the only Ukraine flag I've seen lately was on someone's doghouse, not sure what that signifies

DJJIB-DJDCT posted:

I need to take a picture of the house flying a giant ROC flag on one corner and Ukraine’s on the other.

DJJIB-DJDCT posted:

Pidgin Englishman posted:

lol

e: wait, this isn't a poo poo posting thread.

What's the actual likelihood that Ukraine do manage to conscript back in people in other countries? I can see a half-hearted attempt somewhere like Poland, but find it hard to believe the US or Aus would even give it lip service.

Pidgin Englishman posted:

lol

e: wait, this isn't a poo poo posting thread.

What's the actual likelihood that Ukraine do manage to conscript back in people in other countries? I can see a half-hearted attempt somewhere like Poland, but find it hard to believe the US or Aus would even give it lip service.

VoicesCanBe posted:

I don't think most countries in the EU will even try it. You'll see the Baltic states and Poland, maybe. And even those countries with the desire probably don't have the actual capacity to deport in sufficient numbers to make a difference to Ukraine's war effort.

It's frankly a psychotic idea, and to the best of my knowledge basically without precedent in modern history. That Ukraine is even floating it speaks to how desperate their manpower situation is becoming.

quote:

Kiev's allies are desperately looking for new sources of artillery ammunition. One such option is assessed in an article (https://www.csis.org/analysis/can-south-korean-105-millimeter-ammunition-rescue-ukraine) by the Washington Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). We are talking about the possibility of using South Korean ammunition reserves for 105 mm howitzers.

The main reason for the change in caliber is the reduction in stocks of 155 mm rounds.

“Press reports in April 2023 suggested that South Korea had agreed to provide the United States with 300,000 and 500,000 155mm artillery shells, with the tacit understanding that the ammunition would eventually reach Ukraine without directly involving South Korea in the conflict. For now. Details of the agreement remain unknown, the United States could “return” the ammunition by purchasing new ammunition from South Korean manufacturers Poongsan Corporation and Hanwha Aerospace...

However, South Korea probably won't be able to waste any more 155mm rounds without risking shortages in its own fight for survival...

South Korea's annual production is estimated to be around 200,000 155mm rounds per year. "

Therefore, as an alternative, the use of 105 mm caliber stocks is proposed.

"Public reports suggest that South Korea has approximately 3.4 million 105mm artillery rounds, most of which were once part of the WRSA-K (Reserve Stockpile for Allies–Korea). This ammunition would be compatible with all 105mm artillery shells." millimeter howitzers in service with Ukraine."

Currently in South Korea, the main caliber of artillery is 155 mm, and 105 mm systems have long been transferred to various reserve structures for storage. Therefore, the declared volumes of ammunition in storage, under these conditions, are clearly excessive. Although, apparently, somewhat overpriced.

The supply of these ammunition can create certain problems, but 105-mm systems (unlike 155-mm) do not have any significant advantages over the artillery of the Russian army, including the old “Soviet classics”.

@Slavyangrad

supersnowman posted:

https://t.me/Slavyangrad/94420

Beside the need to provide a new set of guns to shoot this new set of ammo, how much of a loss in operational efficiency would we be talking by going to 105mm?

lobster shirt posted:

trying to bait regarde aduck into posting something bannable. user loses posting privileges for 12 hours.

supersnowman posted:

https://t.me/Slavyangrad/94420

Beside the need to provide a new set of guns to shoot this new set of ammo, how much of a loss in operational efficiency would we be talking by going to 105mm?

DJJIB-DJDCT posted:

None, 105mm is a better field gun calibre.

The reduction and effectiveness that prompted the change was solely due to DPICM. 105 is QF which is a tremendous advantage.

fizziester posted:

Junior Sergeant Iryna, a 26-year-old who goes by her call sign Wild, wears a GoPro camera when heading to dangerous front-line missions.

The former company commander

Regarde Aduck posted:

Probably should surrender