Ukraine's military is 980,000 soldiers strong, Zelensky says
Ukraine has 980,000 people in arms as it fights Russia's all-out war, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with U.S. podcaster Lex Fridman published on Jan. 5.
Zelensky presented Ukraine's Armed Forces as the largest in Europe. This, however, excludes Russia, whose military personnel exceeded 1 million at the onset of the full-scale invasion, with Moscow aiming to raise this number to 1.5 million.
"The Ukrainian army is the largest in Europe. The second place after us (France) is four times smaller than us," Zelensky said.
"I think the French have about 200,000. We have 980,000."
Critics push for even more, as Ukraine’s army has been on the back foot on the front line during 2024, partially due to a manpower shortage that analysts attributed to the country’s demographics and a disjointed mobilization process.
Ukraine lowered the mobilization age from 27 to 25 in April 2024 but resisted the international partners' calls to further lower it to 18.
