Ukrainian General, Yuriy Sodol has disclosed that Russian forces outnumber Ukrainian troops in the eastern regions.
Sodol, Commander of the troops in Kharkiv, Donetsk and Luhansk regions in eastern Ukraine, told parliament, “The enemy outnumbers us by 7-10 times, we lack manpower.”
Prior to Sodol’s remarks, Ukraine’s parliament passed a controversial bill that will change the rules on civilian military mobilisation in an effort to address fledgling manpower among its forces.
The legislation, which must be signed by Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy before it becomes law, is seen as crucial for Ukraine to address what military analysts say are major manpower problems as it fights a better armed and larger foe.
“The bill was passed in its final reading with a majority of 283 votes after months of deliberations,” Yaroslav Zhelezniak, a lawmaker for the Holos party, wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
A full, final text with all the amendments was not immediately published on the parliament’s websites but it was clear that a demobilisation date for soldiers who have spent long periods fighting on the frontlines a chance to return home has been scrapped.
This comes as domestic fatigue against the long-running war has set in after a failed summer assault and the country’s forces being outgunned by Russia.
Last week, Zelenskyy signed a bill to lower the minimum conscription age from 27 to 25.
Lawmaker Oleksandr Fedienko said that the adoption of the law on mobilisation sent a “message to our partners that we are ready to retake our territory and we need weapons.”
Currently, it is unclear that Ukraine, with its ongoing ammunition shortages, has the ability to arm large numbers of recruits without a fresh injection of Western aid.
Nevertheless, Volodymyr Fesenko, an analyst at the Center for Applied Political Studies Penta, opined that the law was crucial for Kyiv’s ability to keep up the fight against Russia, even if it is unpopular domestically.
“A large part of the people do not want their loved ones to go to the front, but at the same time they want Ukraine to win,” he said.
Ukraine, Latvia Sign Bilateral Security Agreement
Also on Thursday, Ukraine and Latvia signed a bilateral security agreement in Vilnius.
Writing on X, Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated, “Latvian President, Edgars Rinkevics and I just signed a bilateral security agreement between Ukraine and Latvia.”
Zelenskyy revealed that the agreement envisages Latvia’s annual military support for Ukraine at 0.25% of GDP.
He added that Latvia also made a 10-year commitment to assist Ukraine with cyber defence, demining, and unmanned technologies, as well as support for Ukraine’s EU and NATO accession.
“I am grateful to our friend and partner, Latvia. This is precisely the specificity and predictability that our struggle for freedom and independence requires,” Zelenskyy noted.
In Zelenskyy’s meeting with Rinkevics, he thanked Latvia for its steadfast support of our country’s fight against Russian aggression.
The two Presidents noted that Latvia’s participation in the international coalition for the supply of drones to Ukraine is extremely important.
Zelenskyy informed Rinkevics about the situation on the battlefield and Russian aerial terror against civilian infrastructure.
The Ukrainian President spoke in detail about what exactly the country needs to strengthen the protection of the sky.
“The specific result of our meeting today is an agreement on security obligations between Ukraine and Latvia. Thank you. I also thank you for the military support of Ukraine and for joining the initiative to supply artillery shells to Ukraine,” Zelenskyy stressed.
The leaders also discussed issues of international cooperation, in particular, support for Ukraine on the way to Euro-Atlantic integration and preparations for the first inaugural Peace Summit in Switzerland.
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