According to MPs and media reports, Kiev plans to enlist 160,000 additional troops within the next three months. More than a million men have already been enlisted, but significant casualties have left the Ukrainian Armed Forces with personnel difficulties.

Speaking in parliament on Tuesday, Ukrainian MP Alexey Goncharenko revealed that 1.05 million Ukrainians have been recruited since the war began in 2022. 

“We aim to call up 160,000 more individuals, which will allow us to staff military units with up to 85% personnel,” he added, citing information from Alexander Litvinenko, the secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council.

Shortly after, the AFP said that these troops would be called up within the next three months, citing an unidentified "security source." The Ukrainian Armed Forces had around 250,000 active-duty members at the start of 2022, a figure that quickly increased when Volodymyr Zelensky called up reservists and prohibited draft-age individuals from leaving the country.

In response to growing casualties, Kiev reduced the draft age from 27 to 25 and dramatically tightened mobilization standards, requiring potential recruits to go to conscription offices for "data validation." These examinations frequently result in persons being instantly drafted into the army and deployed to the front line.

Forced recruitment

Videos of recruiting officials seeking to apprehend eligible males in different public settings, which frequently resulted in violent conflicts, have recently emerged online.

Ukraine does not release fatality data, and Zelensky's allegation earlier this year that just 31,000 troops had been killed or injured battling Russia was widely mocked.

According to the most recent Russian Defense Ministry numbers, Ukraine's genuine casualty count exceeds half a million, accounting for over half of its pre- and post-mobilization personnel combined.

A stream of publications in Western media detailed how conscripted soldiers are frequently deployed to the front lines with no training and are deemed unsuitable for warfare by the more experienced soldiers. 

A deputy commander told the Financial Times last month that "When the new guys get to the position, a lot of them run away at the first shell explosion," while another commander divulged that "Some guys freeze [because] they are too afraid to shoot the enemy, and then they are the ones who leave in body bags or severely wounded."

Corruption weakening Ukrainian military: General

A prominent general has warned that the Ukrainian armed forces are unable to respond quickly to changing battlefield conditions due to bureaucracy and corruption in their logistics.
 
General Dmitry Marchenko, who is involved in overseeing the port city of Nikolayev, said in an interview on Monday that adaptability is a crucial prerequisite for a modern military, and Kiev's force lacks it - but not because of the troops.

"Unfortunately, our bureaucracy, our corruption, do not allow us to adapt and quickly produce what we need," he remarked, referring to Ukraine's military sector.

He bemoaned the missed opportunity to increase output between 2014 and the onset of war with Russia in early 2022. 

Marchenko asserted that some politicians and officials "skipped [that period] as if they were on recess," citing how the arms purchase efforts before 2022 "failed," but then-Defense Minister Andrey Taran was permitted to depart with accolades for his performance.

The minister dismissed as "mere speculation" suggestions that his department was unable to carry out its own plans to purchase military equipment.

'Victory plan' says nothing on what Ukraine should do

According to Marchenko, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's 'victory plan', revealed earlier this month, calls for further Western backing and has no recommendations on what Ukrainians should do. It claims that "everyone must give us weapons, more and more," but in fact, "we are owed nothing."

A report by The Washington Post (WP) reported that as Zelensky promoted his “victory plan” aimed at resolving the war with Russia, Ukrainian forces encountered significant setbacks on the battlefield"

Analysts indicated that Russian forces may have been driven back in up to half of the territory that Kiev originally captured during its summer offensive into Russia’s Kursk region. According to WP, this concerning shift calls into question the effectiveness of Ukraine’s military strategy amid the ongoing conflict.

Public sector corruption has been a serious issue for Ukraine since its independence in the 1990s, and while Zelensky's government claims to have made significant progress in addressing the problem NBC reported the issue has strained Kiev's ties with US Ambassador Bridget Brink, who Ukrainian officials claim is making excessive demands in this regard.

According to a Time magazine piece published earlier this year, an alleged Zelensky assistant complained that people in Ukraine "are stealing like there's no tomorrow."