Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyy stressed that the situation on the battlefield depends not only on the Commander-in-Chief - modern warfare requires determination and initiative on the front, exactly where the fighting is taking place. He said this in an interview with Ukrinform.
"The success of combat operations depends on the officer, sergeant and soldier who are in the trenches and at the strongholds - they are the ones who carry this huge combat load on their shoulders... The most valuable thing our Armed Forces have is people. Our task is to save their lives and at the same time inflict maximum losses on the enemy," said Syrskyy.
He noted that the implementation of this principle requires a balance between performing combat missions and restoring military units.
"Our people are heroes, but their strength is not unlimited, they also need recovery and rest. That is why we have already launched the process of rotating military units on the front line, which allows us to fully restore the combat capability of not only equipment, but also to ensure rest and recovery of our servicemen. We need people to ensure this process. "That is why I would like every man of conscription age in Ukraine to realise that it depends on his will and actions for Ukraine to survive," Syrskyy said.
The Commander-in-Chief noted that this process is not limited to the activities of the Territorial recruitment centre (TRC). This is a whole range of issues that includes training, proper equipment and support. These efforts also include measures to provide social protection for servicemen and their families. We also need to take care of the life of a serviceman after his discharge or demobilisation.
Syrskyy noted that Ukrainians continue to go to defend their country, including those returning from abroad.
"We have a lot of volunteers, and this is not an exaggeration. I am not saying that there are no problems, but I emphasise that we are doing everything to solve them," he said.
The Commander-in-Chief said that the need to mobilise 500,000 servicemen has now been significantly reduced after reviewing internal resources and clarifying the combat composition of the Armed Forces.
"We expect that we will have enough people capable of defending our homeland. We are talking not only about the mobilised, but also about volunteers," Syrskyy said.
At the same time, he stressed that "people are not robots", they are exhausted, physically and mentally, especially in the conditions of hostilities. For example, those who came to the TRC in February 2022 need rest and treatment.
According to Syrskyy, the number of certain units that are not involved in combat operations is currently being reviewed based on an audit of their activities. This made it possible to release thousands of servicemen and send them to combat units.
"In particular, I want to emphasise that those citizens who come to the army for mobilisation are not immediately sent to the front. With very special exceptions, for example, when a person already has combat experience, the vast majority of these people arrive at training military units and centres. As of February this year, the number of people undergoing such training was 84% of the total number of mobilised people. Only after such training can they be sent to man up military units to restore their combat capability," the Commander-in-Chief stressed.