In the most recent meeting of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief’s Headquarters, Ukraine’s military leadership proposed a mobilization of an additional 450,000 to 500,000 people, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during a press conference on Dec. 19.

According to the president, the General Staff and the commander-in-chief addressed issues related to “Ukraine’s defense, potential counter-offensives, and shortcomings,” proposing a substantial mobilization.

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“This is a very serious figure; I said I need more arguments to support this direction,” said Zelenskyy.

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Zelenskyy is awaiting a “specific plan” that details matters of troop demobilization, rotation, leave, and transfers. He noted that such mobilization would additionally cost Ukraine UAH 500 billion ($13.4 billion), and therefore, he “would like to understand where the money would come from.”

“So far, I have not seen any demobilization there [in the proposed plan], although I consider [it] the number one issue…,” the president added.

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“I would very much like our military leadership to understand all these challenges. We cannot afford to lose our bravest, our strongest people, their morale. If we are talking about additional mobilization forces, we need to find demobilization processes… It has to be factual, with specifics, and with great respect to our soldiers.”

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