:Kyiv's top general says Ukraine needs fewer troops than expected

29/3/2024 18:14

        Ukraine's military will need to mobilise fewer people than initially expected to fend off Russia's two-year-old invasion, Kyiv's top general said on Friday.
        
        President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in December that his military had proposed mobilising up to 500,000 more Ukrainians into the armed forces as Russia stepped up attacks along the 1,000-km front line.
        
        Commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, who was appointed last month, said in an interview with Ukrainian media published on Friday that the figure had been "significantly reduced" after a review of resources.
        
        He did not name a new figure.
        
        "We expect that we will have enough people capable of defending their motherland," he told the Ukrinform news agency. "I am talking not only about the mobilized but also about volunteer fighters."
        
        Ukraine's mobilisation effort has been hobbled by waning enthusiasm and reports of corruption and abuse at draft offices. A bill that would allow officials to call up more troops is currently winding its way through parliament.