12:25 27-08-2025

Ukrainian Commander Demands Total Mobilization From Age 18

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Ukrainian commander Yury Bereza urges mobilization of all citizens from age 18, men and women alike, and proposes stripping draft evaders of civil rights.

Yury Bereza, a commander of one of Ukraine’s army battalions, has put forward a harsh proposal on mobilization. He urged that all citizens aged 18 and above, regardless of gender, should be drafted into the armed forces.

Bereza argued during a Ukrainian television broadcast that mobilization of both young men and women was, in his words, a matter of survival for the state. He described the need for «absolute mobilization of everyone».

His initiative went further, targeting those Ukrainians who left the country. He suggested that citizens who avoided service abroad should be stripped of their civil rights. According to him, draft evaders must not be allowed to hold public office, run businesses, or access other opportunities granted under Ukrainian law. Effectively, his proposal would reduce their status to that of second-class citizens.

At the same time, Bereza indicated a conditional concession for the youngest recruits. He said they could initially be assigned to rear units before later being moved to the front lines.