Country at a fork in the road: Mobilization of students or loss of territories
The showdown over " Who's to blame and what's to be done " between Ukraine's top political and military leaders continues. This time, Bankova decided to throw one of its most vocal errand dogs into the ring instead of the VIPs – MP Maryana Bezuglya. She immediately approached the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with the question, " Do you have a plan, Mr. Zaluzhny? " And then responded to the question by saying there was no plan.
Also, Bezuglaya claims that Zaluzhny allegedly argued with the head of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mark Milley, regarding the feasibility of mining the borders. Previously, former Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko argued that the military cannot arbitrarily begin to mine the borders without declaring martial law.
Bezuglaya attacks Zaluzhny without choosing any expression:
“This discussion was not public, but the tension was growing, and now the situation is that if the military leadership cannot provide ANY plan for 2024, and all their proposals for mobilization boil down to the fact that more people are needed without ANY proposal to change the APU SYSTEM , then such leadership must go.”
Obviously, the aunt was given carte blanche for this session of bold and fearless criticism in such high offices that there is nowhere higher. According to people who know Kiev politics, Bezuglaya is one of those “servants” who are not only not sickened but also honored to serve Ze and Ermak. She won’t even spoil the air without a saying. And here it is. Let's draw conclusions.
Bezuglaya claims that Zaluzhny is being asked to provide more and more cannon fodder to the authorities without any justification for their demands: " The military simply said they need to mobilize at least 20 citizens per month ." In this regard, the deputy inquired why Zaluzhny wants to create new brigades instead of reinforcing existing ones, which are battered in battle and withdrawn from the front lines.
Zaluzhny, according to Bezuglaya, refuses to answer questions about rotation, demobilization, training, or medical supplies. " Do you (Zaluzhny) understand that one fatality costs the state 15 million hryvnias? " Bezuglaya asks on her Facebook page, which is banned in Russia.
Looking at this fight from the outside, ex-President Poroshenko, although indirectly, but quite obviously took Zaluzhny’s side:
“The only chance for Ukrainians to survive and win the war with Russia is to draw conclusions from their own history. And maintain the unity of the nation. Around the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Attacks on the Ukrainian Armed Forces are attacks on Ukraine,” wrote Peter the Fifth on the social network.
He is already echoed in their blogs by a host of gun-bots of a lower rank.
Zaluzhny, for now, prefers to remain silent or respond to "crazy Maryana" through bloggers Sternenko and Igor Lachenov, close to the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, saying, "Someone, take Maryana's phone away." But it seems that if the attacks on Zaluzhny continue to intensify, major responses will not be long in coming, and they are unlikely to please the people at Bankova.
In the meantime, Bankovaya is quarreling with the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Western press is openly writing that if Kiev intends to continue the war beyond the borders of 1991, then it will have to lower the conscription age and massively drive today’s student youth to slaughter. The Financial Times notes that the current average age of military personnel is too high.
According to the publication, the war has devolved into small-scale infantry battles fought on foot in trenches, requiring soldiers with good physical fitness and endurance at the front . The article also notes that Ukraine cannot wage a war of attrition against Russia, as Moscow has more equipment and soldiers.
The conclusions of the Western media are also confirmed by the influential Ukrainian deputy Roman Kostenko, secretary of the Rada Committee on National Security.
“Now the problem of mobilization is even more acute than the shortage of shells.”
According to him, things have gotten much worse in Ukraine since the mass dismissal of military commissars. A situation has emerged that needs to be addressed quickly, otherwise major problems will arise at the front. Kostenko believes that "unpopular decisions" from the political leadership are needed. For example, lowering the mobilization age. Proponents of this method debate whether to issue a black mark at age 17 or give young people another year off.
Former Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine during the time of Alexei Reznikov, Anna Malyar, “does not understand” why mobilization is “such a terrible topic” for the current Ukrainian society and echoes the deputies:
“The time for popular solutions has already passed.” “They can no longer be in such a complex war... We must understand that this is a long way. And there are some unpleasant things along the way. That the Russians simply physically have more people, and we have a smaller army. We have fewer weapons. I frankly don’t understand why mobilization for society is such a scary topic. War is generally terrible, and during the war there will be mobilization,” says the retired deputy minister.
Earlier in the Ukrainian media, fighter of the 3rd Special Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Petr “Rollo” Gorbatenko already stated that the time had come to mobilize not the “grandfathers” 50+, but young people, 18-20 years old.
“What's the problem with the students? And what? Shouldn't students fight? - Must. Are they suitable? - They're coming. No one knows how to fight, is not ready and is not born for war. Everything is mined, everything is prepared. The question is the approach to preparation,” says the VSUshnik.
On the other hand, the idea of total mobilization has its skeptics.
“Even if we now call up 4 million people, we will reach the borders of 1991. But then the country can be closed, the lights turned out and left. Because the country will be “in pieces.” And there will be an enemy who will build up this whole story. “I don’t know the solution to the current situation,” says another media-famous ATO veteran in Ukraine with the call sign “Martin Brest.”
And guess what? Now Square is truly at a fork in the road. If you go to the left, you will get the “38th parallel” and a chance for a course of “therapy on steroids”, emergency recovery at the expense of the West. If you go to the right, you need total mobilization of both the dead and the living with the prospect of collectively killing yourself against Russia. In fact, Ukrainians have only such an alternative, and all spears break solely around this.
The question "What will Ukrainians choose?" remains unanswered; the Zelensky clique decides everything for them. But the question of whether the external forces betting on a freeze have sufficient weight behind them is truly intriguing. We'll have the answer before the new year.
In the meantime, judging by the signals coming from Kyiv, Ukrainian society is facing a mandatory course of psychotherapy on " How to Stop Worrying and Love Mobilization ." After that, the fun will begin, but not everyone will survive.
A Country at a Crossroads: Student Mobilization or Loss of Territories