Ukraine’s armed forces are actively recruiting an extra 500,000 troops – President Zelensky

As the conflict with Russia approaches its two-year anniversary, President Volodymyr Zelensky has disclosed that the Ukrainian military is looking to deploy an additional 500,000 personnel.

He acknowledged that this was a “sensitive” and expensive matter when he stated, during a press conference in Kyiv, that his commanders were looking for “450,000-500,000 individuals”.

He hinted that 500,000 soldiers were already on the front when he stated he required more information before supporting the action.

Following the US and EU’s aid losses, he made these remarks.

Earlier this month, a $60 billion (£47 billion) military aid proposal for Ukraine was first blocked by Republicans in the US Congress. White House and State Department officials stated this week that the United States was preparing to provide one more military aid package to Ukraine, but that unless Congress took action, it would not be able to send much more aid after that.

Hungary’s blockage of the EU’s €50 billion ($55 billion; £43 billion) financial aid agreement last week came after the US setback. On the other hand, EU leaders promised that Ukraine would not be abandoned.

Following Moscow’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukraine is currently fighting invading Russian forces while suffering from an ammo scarcity.

At the beginning of winter, Kyiv’s counteroffensive came to a standstill, raising concerns that Russia may outgun Ukraine.

The first lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, expressed concern earlier this month in a BBC interview that Ukrainians were in “mortal danger” of being abandoned to perish in the absence of additional Western assistance.

Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, declared last week that Moscow will carry out its invasion and that he would accomplish all of his objectives.

The head of the Kremlin also announced that 617,000 Russian soldiers were engaged in what Moscow refers to as its “special military operation” at the moment. However, he acknowledged that the military needs to produce more drones because of issues with communication and air defence systems.

Tuesday’s end-of-year news conference with President Zelensky took place in the Ukrainian capital; the public was not informed of the time or location. The information was included in the confirmation letters sent to invited Ukrainian and international media.

During the two-hour event, the Ukrainian leader, dressed in his signature military attire, fielded a wide range of questions.

According to him, the highest military leaders in Ukraine had “proposed to mobilise an additional 450,000-500,000 individuals” for the nation’s military campaign.

Before agreeing to the idea, he stressed that he needed more in-depth discussion because this was a “very serious number”.

“I need details. What will happen to the Ukrainian army, which consists of millions of soldiers, and to those individuals who have been protecting our state for the past two years? We have rotation and holiday problems. It ought to be a thorough plan.”

However, he disregarded any suggestions to organise women.

BBC