Mykola Sokalskii, who moderates a popular subreddit on Ukraine, said his role has helped him prepare for being in on the frontline.

Real good sign your side is winning when you're conscripting a 39yo, especially someone who is arguably way more valuable left helping run your propaganda war on reddit-logo zelensky-pain

  • 420blazeit69 [he/him]
    ·
    6 months ago

    Ukraine has recently stepped up its efforts to replenish soldiers. It lowered the conscription age from 27 to 25

    They aren't drafting people under 25?? Most serious war effort

    Ukraine's parliament also passed a bill earlier this month that would allow the country's military to recruit prisoners to fight.

    "In bad country..."

    In August, Zelenskyy fired all of Ukraine's military recruitment chiefs after an investigation revealed they were accepting up to $10,000 in bribes to help people avoid being drafted.

    I'm sure there's some level of corruption in any conscription process, but this seems unusual.

    • Tankiedesantski [he/him]
      ·
      6 months ago

      Ukraine's parliament also passed a bill earlier this month that would allow the country's military to recruit prisoners to fight.

      I remember near the begining of the war, Redditors were trying to mock Wagner for all being recruited from prisoners.

      • PolandIsAStateOfMind@lemmygrad.ml
        ·
        6 months ago

        And how the Tornado company, war criminals so bad they got jailed for atrocities in Donbas by Ukraine itself, got released and get back into army.

        • Tankiedesantski [he/him]
          ·
          6 months ago

          Our repentent petty criminals who want to atone by fighting

          Vs

          Their genocidal war criminal brigade of super murderers and puppy kickers.

    • itappearsthat
      ·
      6 months ago

      The 25+ conscription age is unusual. Isn't it the opposite in most places? You want your soldiers young, dumb, and full of cum as the saying goes. If I'd been conscripted in my early 20s I'd probably have gone along with it as I was an uncritical idiot. It was only after age 25 that I would have probably abandoned my life and gtfo instead of dying in a ditch for some nationalist myth.

      • Tunnelvision [they/them]
        ·
        6 months ago

        The average age of a us infantryman in ww2 was 26 I believe. In Vietnam it was 19 and was kinda noted for being too young. Also in Napoleons grand army the conscription age was 20-25 so long as you weren’t married. Then when you consider special forces guys are all pretty much early to mid 30’s you kinda realize 18-20 year olds in the military are pretty much cannon fodder. A military needs “young” but capable (read life experience) to actually be effective. For example Russia recently upped their minimum age to 21 for that reason pretty much. Especially now that we are definitely in an age where technology is playing a major role in combat.

      • waluigiblunts [he/him]
        ·
        6 months ago

        @420blazeit69@hexbear.net

        Ukraine does not have that many men between 18 and 25.

        Show

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ukraine_population_pyramid_2024_UN.png

        Look at the gigantic dip near the bottom.

        Conscripting men between 18 and 25 would not provide many men, while completely destroying that already tiny generation.

        • Leon_Frotsky [she/her]
          ·
          6 months ago

          wow i wonder what could have happened around the late 80s and early 90s to cause the birth rate to massively decrease as social stability was upended thonk

        • 420blazeit69 [he/him]
          ·
          6 months ago

          Interesting. I wonder if they thought that through -- "this war will destroy a generation" has rarely stopped countries from fighting wars.