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Acting President of Ukraine Olexander Turchynov on Thursday reinstated military conscription to help deal with the deteriorating security situation in Eastern Ukraine. The move was announced in a decree, and comes after pro-Russian forces seized a regional prosecutor’s office in Donetsk. Ukraine has blamed Russia for organizing the capture of government offices in Eastern Ukraine, a claim the Russian government denies.
On Wednesday, Turchynov admitted that his troops were “helpless” to subdue unrest in the eastern part of the country, saying that his goal was now to stop it from spreading. He added that Ukraine was on “full combat alert” amidst fears that Russian army troops could invade at any time. Currently, there are over 40,000 Russian soldiers amassed near the Ukrainian border.
On Thursday, the Prime Minister’s office said that the conscription was introduced “given the deteriorating situation in the east and the south… the rising force of armed pro-Russian units and the taking of public administration buildings… which threaten territorial integrity”. According to analysts, Ukraine’s decision is, at least in the short term, a symbolic step in the right direction, as the Ukrainian military has been short of cash and resources for a few years now, and in no way could match Russia’s military might. Ukraine is said to have 130,000 people in its armed forces, which can be boosted to around a million by including reservists.
In 2013, Ukraine had scrapped compulsory military service for young men with a law introduced by the President at the time Viktor Yanukovych, who said that Ukraine would launch military reforms so as to create “a professional army”.
Eastern Ukraine has a considerable Russian-speaking population, and was a Yanukovych stronghold before he was overthrown in February. Russia responded by annexing the Crimean peninsula, which also has a Russian-speaking majority population. The move has sparked international outrage, and ever since, relations between Russia and the West have been at their weakest since the Cold War.
