Too few youth and too many pensioners

June 15-22. Pushing the mobilization age down. Border paradoxes. Government services for draft dodgers restricted, houses enterable. Kukharchuk. Mobilize the call centres

On June 18, Roman Lozinsky, a deputy from the ultra-liberal-nationalist (think Azov crossed with Fukuyama) party Golos, announced their desire to see the mobilization age pushed down. Lozinsky argued it should be pushed down from 27 to 25. ‘While this will be unpopular, it’s the only way to win this existential war’.

Svyatoslav Vakarchuk, the rockstar who used to be in charge of Golos, was an atlanticist favorite until he decided politics was too much stress. Vakarchuk boasted of reading all of Fukuyama’s philosophical works to the Atlantic Council, and Fukuyama vocally supported him.

Taras Chmut, had even more radical ideas back in April. He is a famous military ‘volunteer’, which means he is on endless talkshows discussing the war, shaming draft-dodgers, and boasting about how much he’s helped the frontline through various fundraising efforts. He proposed lowering the mobilization age down to 20 back in April.

On June 19, Dmytro Kokharchuk of the Azov batallion also urged lowering the mobilization age in a long interview with Ukrainska Pravda. The first line is the question posed by the journalist:

– In private conversations, it is often said that our Western partners are ready to supply us with weapons, but unpopular decisions regarding mobilization from the age of 21 need to be made.

– In Europe, some people in their 70s look energetic. Here, some people around 45 look like they are 70. In Ukraine, people start to deteriorate after the age of 45-50. Men deteriorate. Especially when we talk about the category of men who can't buy an exemption for $10,000.

And imagine, he is mobilized, sent to the front, and told, "Go fight." If you put him in a trench, he will sit there. He won't run away because if he tries to run, he will fall apart. But imagine telling such a person to storm the enemy. What will he do?

Kukharchuk’s interview is titled ‘Right now, we are losing the war. That’s obvious'

Interestingly, when asked about whether the new mobilization law has had any positive effects, Kukharchuk answers in the negative:

– A month ago, the law to strengthen mobilization came into effect. Do you already see the results?

– Honestly, I don't see any. I see call centers that are operating, scamming Europeans out of money. I see law enforcement agencies that are protecting them. I see members of parliament who are protecting them.

Mobilizing pensioners – yes, that's happening. People up to 57 years old, but many of them already look like they are 70. This is not a solution to the situation.

Scam call centers are a recurring theme of Kukharchuk’s interview, often urging to mobilize their employees and other criminal youth elements.

I have written about these institutions in two recent posts, and the upcoming one will describe the wartime status of the scam call centres, and the recent events that led Kukharchuk to place such emphasis on them.

Kukharchuk repeatedly states that the war with Russia is ‘a war that has lasted for thousands of years’, whatever that means. No doubt the Azovite has all variety of fascinating theories about the ancient Scythians and the pre-Christian Perun cult.

A monument to the pre-Christian idol Perun has recently been erected near the national Historical Museum of Kyiv, leading to some worried posts on social media. Azov and other rightwingers are fixated on Perun and related pagan ideology.

He is quite the character - back in 2021, he cut his wrists in front of a police station to protest criminal investigation into him and other Azovites over a violent anti-Zelensky protest in August of that year.