JRL NEWSWATCH: “Zelensky in bind over how to draft more troops as Russian forces advance” – Washington Post

“Even as he promises … that Ukraine will handle the fighting if given needed weapons and other support, … Zelensky and … top military commanders have failed … to come up with a clear plan to conscript or recruit many thousands of new soldiers … to defend against Russia’s continuing attacks. Zelensky’s inability to forge a political consensus on … mobilization … — despite months of warnings about a severe shortage of qualified troops … — has fueled deep divisions in Ukraine’s parliament and … society. It has left … a hodgepodge of recruiting efforts and sown panic among fighting-age men, some of whom have gone into hiding, worried that they will be drafted into an ill-equipped army … [as] aid … remains stalled in Washington. …”

Ukraine’s new commander in chief, Oleksandr Syrsky, is to audit existing armed forces to find more combat-eligible troops. Zelensky’s office recently announced that from 1 million people mobilized, only about 300,000 have fought at the front. Yet thus far no clarifications have been offered about the remaining 700,000 and how they have fit into the scheme of things.

Click here for: “Zelensky in bind over how to draft more troops as Russian forces advance” – Washington Post: Siobhán O’Grady, Serhii Korolchuk