Individuals subject to compulsory military service who wish to join the Ukrainian Armed Forces can choose a brigade to serve in, Volodymyr Fito, the head of the Army's public relations service, said during TV marathon on Dec. 29.
"Now, indeed, all citizens liable for military service... who wish to join the Defense Forces have the opportunity to choose a brigade, for example, the unit they are most interested in, the position they are most interested in, take a reference from there, undergo a medical examination, sign a contract and get exactly this position in this unit where they want to serve," Fito said.
Local territorial centers of recruitment and social support that serve as the registration and enlistment offices, streamlining the issues of military registration of conscripts and reservists will continue to play "quite a significant role" in the process, according to the official.
On Dec. 19, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine's military leadership proposed to mobilize 450,000-500,000 additional conscripts. Ukraine’s Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi later denied this and said that the military had not submitted a formal request for the mobilization of half a million people.
Zaluzhnyi also said that the military had a plan on the number of mobilized conscripts for 2024.
“As for this number, we have generated it for the next year, it of course takes into account the coverage of the current kit, the formation of new military units, and also the projection of our losses that we may suffer in 2024. I can't divulge the numbers for each of these indicators. This is a military secret,” he said at a news briefing.
Daria Shulzhenko
