Newsblog Ukraine War | Ukraine prepares further mobilization

Day 550: Putin demands allegiance from all who fight for Russia. Ukraine, meanwhile, is planning to call up soldiers again. All information in the news blog.

The most important things at a glanceLoading…

Embed

After jet collision: Emotional message from the pilot’s girlfriend

12:45 a.m.: President Volodymyr Zelenskyy commemorated three pilots killed in a plane crash on Ukrainian Aviation Day. “My condolences to the relatives and confidants, to all those who knew the young men,” he said in his daily video address on Saturday. The girlfriend of one of the pilots, nicknamed “Juice”, had written emotional words on the X network to say goodbye to her partner. Thank you for hugging me again yesterday before the flight. I will do everything I promised,” wrote Melaniya Podolyak, attaching a joint photo to the message.

Ukraine prepares further mobilization

8.50 p.m.: According to the Ukrainian leadership, they are preparing further conscriptions for the defensive fight against Russia. “Yes, the military have contacted us and there will probably be an additional call-up,” Secretary of the National Council for Security and Defense Oleksiy Danilov told Ukrainian radio on Saturday. However, he assured that the mobilization would not go beyond the parameters already set at the beginning of the war on February 24, 2022.

According to Danilov, this is not an unscheduled measure. The mobilization has been going on for a year and a half, and several stages have already been completed. “You don’t have to make a fuss about it, everything is going according to the plan that we are currently pursuing,” said the top Kiev official.

After the start of the Russian invasion, Ukraine declared martial law. All men between the ages of 18 and 60 are therefore fundamentally obliged to do military service and can be called up — unless they are exempt from service for health or social reasons, for example as single fathers. The exact number of those called up so far is not known. A year ago, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maljar put the number at several hundred thousand. Because of the losses at the front, new recruits have to be trained and sent into battle again and again.

Recently, Ukraine has been shaken by conscription scandals. After the media publicized a case in which a corrupt district military replacements office bought property in Spain – apparently with a bribe he received for declaring rich young Ukrainians unfit for service – President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for the entire conscription system to be checked for corruption.

At a press conference on Wednesday, when asked whether more recruits should be called up in view of the high losses, Zelenskyy also stated that the military leadership was asking for more soldiers to be mobilized.

Second freighter is said to have left Odessa

3:53 p.m.: A second cargo ship has left the port of Odessa. The “Primus” is on its way to Bulgaria, Ukrainian MP Oleksiy Honcharenko said on Telegram. He posted a picture showing the ship leaving the port.

After the end of the grain agreement between Ukraine and Russia, a “humanitarian corridor” was established in the Black Sea through which ships that have been stuck in ports since the beginning of the war can leave Ukraine despite Russian threats. Last week, the “Joseph Schulte” was the first ship to reach Istanbul via the corridor.