DISINFO: Ukraine government is forcibly sending people to the frontline as no one goes to war voluntarily anymore
SUMMARY
No one talks about it out loud, but [...] it is dangerous to go out on the street [in Ukraine], because adult men are detained, first taken to 10-day training, then given weapons and sent to the front line as cannon fodder. Yes, no one goes to war voluntarily in Ukraine anymore, and the government is forced to do so.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation about mobilisation in Ukraine, aimed at demoralising and splitting society, as well as about Ukraine’s alleged desperation on the battlefield. This is part of a wider disinformation campaign to promote the idea of a failed Ukrainian counteroffensive, the inevitability of Russia’s victory, and ultimately the need to compromise and accept Russia’s terms.
There is no forced mobilisation in Ukraine. Ukraine and its population is defending itself against Russia’s unjustified and unprovoked aggression in a remarkable display of continued courage and determination. Not only Western countries, but a broad coalition of states support Ukraine with military and financial aid for the country’s efficient self-defence, in accordance with the UN Charter article 51, to stop Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine.
Each person mobilised to fight in the Ukrainian military undergoes basic combined arms training lastingan average of 1-3 months, depending on the specialty. A large block of training is devoted to tactical medicine and first aid. Upon completion of training, the military are then sent from training centers to military units.
Ukrainian military personnel systematically undergo additional advanced training courses - both in Ukraine, at training grounds and in military higher educational institutions, and abroad, learning to operate Western-produced weapons.
There have been rare incidents when recruits were sent to the front lines without proper training. Such cases are investigated by special prosecutors, with potential sentences running between 5 to 8 years of imprisonment.
Previous propaganda attempts serving the same purpose included claims that Kyiv has launched emergency measures to forcibly mobilise Ukrainians, that Ukrainians do not want to die for gay pride parades and Zelenskyy, that Ukrainians started killing military commissars to resist mobilisation, that the Kyiv regime is desperately mobilising women into the army, that Kyiv is about to send children, women and elderly into battle under Western demands, that The West is forcing Ukraine to send minors to the front, that Ukraine is preparing a total mobilisation of women, or that Residents burned down the enlistment office in Kharkiv because of the forced mobilisation.