Fellow soldiers carry a coffin of leading actor of the music and drama theatre Petro Velykiy, 48, who was killed in a battle with the Russian troops in Russia's Kursk region, during farewell ceremony in Chernyhiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024.Photo by Dan Bashakov/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

White House pressing Ukraine to draft 18-year-old men to help fill manpower needs to battle Russia

'The pure math' of Ukraine's situation now is that it needs more troops in the fight, says Biden official

by · National Post

President Joe Biden’s administration is urging Ukraine to increase the size of its military by drafting more troops and revamping its mobilization laws to allow for the conscription of troops as young as 18.

A senior Biden administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the private consultations, said Wednesday that the outgoing Democratic administration wants Ukraine to lower the mobilization age to 18 from the current age of 25 to help expand the pool of fighting age men available to help a badly outmanned Ukraine in its nearly three-year-old war with Russia.

Peter MacKay: The West's only good option is to support Ukraine's victory planWhether it’s another frenetic week in the American presidential campaign, or Canada’s spiralling relationship with India and allegations over foreign interference, or Israel’s quintessential battle with Iran and its proxies, our collective attention is strained these days. Yet, even so, the illegal invasion of Ukraine continues unabated. It is a crisis that we can ill afford to ignore.Peter MacKay, Special to National Post, 29 Oct 2024David Oliver: It's far less costly to back Ukraine now than to fight Russia laterTwo years ago, the United States and United Kingdom were giving themselves something of a pat on the back for having accurately forecast Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.David Oliver, Special to National Post, 22 Feb 2024