Overview

• A Ground Forces reconnaissance commander, Denis Yaroslavsky, urged starting enlistment of 16–18-year-old males to train a new force to be ready in about five years, as cited by UNIAN.
• Yaroslavsky said a plan for this youth-based force has been developed and delivered to the country’s senior leadership.
• In a separate on-camera comment reported by Strana.ua, a Ukrainian air-defense brigade officer predicted authorities will lower the mobilization age to 23 in 2026, framing it as an inevitable step.
• Ukraine’s May 18, 2024 mobilization law remains in effect, requiring men liable for service to update records in person or via an electronic portal and to carry military IDs for inspection by enlistment officials or police.
• The law deems a summons delivered even without personal receipt and sets no demobilization timelines, while RIA notes widely circulated online videos purporting to show coercive conscription that it does not verify.