KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Scores of protesters gathered on the streets of Ukrainian cities on Friday to demand a cap of 18 months on mandatory military service, amid new suggestions of possible Ukrainian and international weariness with the 20-month war.
Both the warring sides are striving to keep their military momentum, though neither side has been able to land a knockout blow, and the fighting is expected to drag on deep into next year.
Ukraine ordered a general mobilization of the male population between the ages of 25 to 60 when Russia launched its invasion on Feb. 24, 2022. The vast majority joined up as volunteers. As the war grinds on, Ukraine has ramped up the draft.
The 18-month service limit sought by the protesters would be the same maximum as before the war. It is currently open-ended for draftees. The protesters, who are part of a loose national network, want the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament, to consider possible alternatives on service time.
Conscription is slavery.
It doesn’t matter if everybody is drafted, it won’t change that fact. I think the problem is the existence of the so-called war, that is, mass murder. Who are the ones behind of all that coercion? The state.