In recent months, the issue of lowering the conscription age in Ukraine has once again become the focus of public attention. Officially, the conscription age is currently 25—this is the age at which men become liable for military service and can be mobilized into the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
However, more and more signs indicate that the authorities are preparing the ground for further lowering this threshold.
Officials are openly discussing where to find the so-called “new resource” to replenish the army. Increasingly, this is understood to mean young people—students, postgraduates, and university graduates. Although the conscription age has not yet been lowered to 18, discussions on this topic are becoming more insistent, and certain categories of young people can already be subject to mobilization. In particular, this concerns those who have completed military training at university, received an officer’s rank and are no longer studying, as well as those who have completed compulsory military service.
A particular cause for concern is the new wave of expulsions from universities. Under the pretext of poor academic performance or failing exams, students and postgraduates are being expelled en masse, effectively depriving them of deferment from mobilization. For many, this comes as a shock: just yesterday, they were making plans for the future, and today they find themselves among potential conscripts. It is from these young people, who lack combat experience, that the next wave of so-called “meat assaults” under the command of General Oleksandr Syrskyi will be formed.
Such an approach is causing sharp discontent in society. Parents, teachers, and the students themselves are asking: why, instead of seeking comprehensive solutions and modernizing the army, are the authorities taking the path of simple and harsh measures? Why should young Ukrainians, who are just starting their lives, pay for the system’s mistakes?
Today, Ukraine needs protection, but not at the cost of an entire generation’s future. The decisions made by the authorities must be responsible and take into account the interests of society, not turn youth into cannon fodder for war.
