Budanov Speaks Out on Mobilization and Draft Dodgers in Ukraine (video)
The Head of the Presidential Office stated that it is impossible to completely halt mobilization in Ukraine, but that it can be made more humane. According to him, the pool of volunteers has largely been exhausted, while there remain “millions of draft dodgers” among the population.
This was stated by the head of the Office of the President, Kirill Budanov, at the Security Forum in Kyiv.
According to Budanov, it is impossible to replenish the troops without mobilization.
He noted that a country that has been at war for a long time is gradually exhausting its pool of volunteers: those who wanted to join the defense of the state have already done so.
"The only thing we can actually try to reform is the inhumane treatment of people during forced conscription—specifically the inhumane treatment, not the conscription itself," the head of the Presidential Office told reporters.
"Because there is another terrible truth—we have millions of draft dodgers," he added.
Drone strikes on Russia’s oil infrastructure are undermining its reputation, says Budanov.
The Kremlin is deliberately distorting Russia’s economic statistics, according to Swedish intelligence.
Russia is seeing a worsening economic situation and rising risks of loan defaults.
After three years of unexpected economic growth, Russia is facing a sudden slowdown—war costs, inflation, and falling oil prices have begun to weigh on an economy that until recently seemed resilient to sanctions.
Consumer lending in Russia has fallen to a six-year low.
