"Everyone who wanted to fight or was ready to fight either ended up in different units of the Defence Forces or joined (the Armed Forces - Ed.) in the first six months. For objective reasons, not many of those people (in the ranks of the Defence Forces - Ed.) remained. This is a fact, it must be understood and recognised. With such numbers, no amount of recruitment will cover our needs without mobilisation. This is a similar problem as with ammunition, because the volumes are huge. The total strength of the Ukrainian Defence Forces is now (I'll give you a slightly arbitrary number, because we are dealing with state secrets) 1.1 million people. No recruitment can cover such numbers. Only mobilisation can do it," he is convinced.
Another issue with mobilisation is motivation, he added.
"No matter how many people we mobilise, involuntarily or voluntarily, by some tricks or in accordance with the law, the efficiency will be almost zero. This, in principle, is what has been happening lately, and we must also acknowledge this frankly. Therefore, we should not even think that we can do without mobilisation. It is impossible."
"We don't have that many people willing to do anything. Let alone fighting. This is the current situation. There will be losses, and this number must be kept constant," Budanov argued.
He noted that before the war, military service was usually avoided, among other things, because of the low salaries. But now, despite the adequate salaries, financial rewards are not a motivating factor for joining the army.
"The question arises: why is this? I am sure there is no single answer. This is a complex problem. For me, as a military man, a certain gap is obvious. Unfortunately, most people here, despite shouting 'I am a Ukrainian' and 'Ukraine is above all', have not acknowledged themselves to be citizens of Ukraine. They have no sense that the enemy has seized our territory and that each of us has a sacred duty to defend this country. That's why these 'Lviv cauldrons', 'Polish voivodeship' and so on appear," he noted.
"Everyone seems to be rooting for Ukraine, but many people are running away, fleeing. It's true. These queues at the borders... In connection with my work, I have to travel to different places often, constantly crossing the border, often by car. These queues are huge. And it is not true to say that there are only women and children there. Everyone knows this very well. Many people do not feel that this is their war. And this is a very deep problem that money will not solve," he said.
In his opinion, a proper social dialogue and explaining are needed.
"But words alone cannot solve this. We have to admit that in 30 years we have got a big gap in this regard," he added.
"There should be an honest conversation. A significant number of people were not ready to defend their country. And if it is war, it is war, and we should not be afraid of it," he added.