Serhii Lehchenko, advisor to the Presidential Office, said that U.S. lawmakers of the Democratic and Republican Parties are pressing President Volodymyr Zelensky to lower the age for mandatory military conscription.
In mid-April, the Ukrainian parliament adopted a new mobilization law to increase mobilization in response to Russia’s ongoing conflict. The new law simplifies the identification of conscripts who are eligible and includes additional punishments for those who avoid the draft.
A second law, signed just before the mobilization act was passed by the president, lowered from 27 to 25 the age for military service.
Leshchenko said U.S. legislators have continued to pressurize Zelensky, and continue to ask why men between 18-25 years old are not being mobilized.
Unnamed U.S. legislators have reportedly cited America’s experience in Vietnam War when men aged between 18 and 26 were drafted to serve. Selective service was used to conscript 2.2 million U.S. troops into the war.
Leshchenko stated that Zelensky had so far refused to budge in regards to changing the conscription ages and instead has continued to push for the delivery of additional U.S. military assistance.
After the new law on mobilization in Ukraine came into effect on May 18, men of military age were given 60 calendar days to update their data so that they could be located by the state. The deadline to update data expired on 17th July 2024.
According to the Defense Ministry, between May 18 and July 16, 4,690 496 men of military age updated their data before the deadline of July 17.
Serhii Lehchenko, advisor to the Presidential Office, reported that unnamed U.S. legislators cited America’s Vietnam War experience, where men aged 18-26 years old were drafted into combat.
Western diplomats and analysts say that the growing military ties between Russia and North Korea show Moscow’s increasing dependence on resources to continue its costly war in Ukraine.
Interfax reported that the federal censorship agency Roskomnadzor confirmed that Steam, with its online catalog of over 100,000 games, and the use by more than 130 million people around the world including close to 10 millions in Russia, has agreed to comply to the legislation.
David Arakhamia is the leader of Zelensky’s Servant of the People, a parliamentary group. He made comments to the Kyiv Independent.
Financial Times (FT), Oct. 15, reported that Elina Valtonen, Finnish Foreign Minister, warned that Western countries are becoming tired of their support for Ukraine and called for a stronger commitment to backing Kyiv.
According to a Harvard CAPS/Harris survey, 48% of voters in swing states who said they’d vote early supported Trump while 47% sided Harris. Another 5% of voters said they had voted or chose another candidate.
Mark Rutte stated in an interview with German radio Hessischer Rundfunk and Reuters on October 13.
On Oct. 14, hundreds of Ukrainian schools, businesses and media outlets including the Kyiv Independent received bomb threats by email. This prompted the evacuation of state institutions.
In an interview with Kremlin’s RIA Novosti, published on October 15, Peter Szijjarto, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs, said that Budapest and Russia’s state-owned Gazprom are in discussions on additional gas purchases next year.
The Air Force reported that Ukrainian forces shot down 12 of the 17 drones of the type Shahed launched by Russia over night. Overnight, seven S-300/400 and two Kh 59 missiles were fired at Mykolaiv Oblast.
“With the beginning of the ‘heating seasons,’ we can anticipate massive Russian strikes in the energy sector,” Oleksandr Litvynenko said, National Security and Defense Council Sec.
Dmytro Lytvyn, Ukraine’s presidential advisor, reacted after a nearly week-long silence following Ukrainska Pravda’s claim that the Ukrainian Government is exerting “systematic” pressure against one of Ukraine’s largest news media sites.
The statement follows an article in the French newspaper Le Monde that claimed that Tuareg fighters of the anti-government CSP were using Ukrainian drones to attack the military and Wagner mercenaries.
“Now the town is more like a desert world: there are no shelters either for civilians or soldiers,” Anastasia Bobovnikova said, a spokesperson for the Operational Tactical Group Luhansk.
“It was (Ukraine) the apple of his eyes; he used talk about it.” Donald Trump said that he had told him, “You’re not going to go in, and he was not going to go in.”
This includes 1,210 casualties that Russian forces have suffered in the last day.
According to Vitalii Kim, the Russian forces attacked the city at 2:30 am with S-300 anti-aircraft weapons. A restaurant complex, an industrial facility, shops, residential structures, and cars were all damaged.
According to the Eastern Human Rights Group, Ukrainians suffering from diabetes, bronchial asthma, and other illnesses on Russian-occupied territory will no longer be eligible for free medication unless they obtain Russian passports by 2025.
Lubos Blaha is a senior member of the pro-Russian Smer party (Direction), led by Robert Fico, who visited Moscow on October 12.
Josep Borrell announced on October 14 that he plans to extend the EUMAM for two more years, pending the approval of the EU Council.
On Oct. 14, hundreds of Ukrainian schools, businesses and media outlets including the Kyiv Independent received bomb threats by email. This prompted evacuations. The threats were linked to a recent investigation conducted by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty into Russian security services sabotage of Ukraine.
Andrii Kostin, the prosecutor general of Brazil, said that “information” that Putin might attend the G20 Summit in Brazil obligates the Brazilian authorities to arrest him.
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