Ukraine Needs 30,000 Monthly Mobilizations, Budanov Says

Ukraine must mobilize at least 30,000 people monthly to maintain its current position on the battlefield, Kyrylo Budanov, the head of the Presidential Office said.Speaking in an interview broadcast on the national joint newscast on Friday, Aug. 28, Budanov said that the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) would not be able to maintain the present situation on the frontline with a smaller monthly intake of new recruits.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official.“Unfortunately, we have to accept it [mobilisation] as it is. We cannot do otherwise,” Budanov said, according to Ukrainska Pravda.“We have to find the courage and honestly say: we cannot mobilise fewer than 30,000 people a month. This is the minimum number needed to maintain what we have,” he continued.Recruitment system reformsBudanov acknowledged public anger over instances of forceful mobilization, and said that the state should revise its approach.“It is not happening everywhere, but such cases do occur. We need to tackle this,” he said.He also said the appointment of Yevhen Khmara as defense minister would not change the required scale of recruitment, because the military’s manpower needs remain the same in any case.According to Ukrainska Pravda, Deputy Defense Minister Liubov Halan told a parliamentary temporary investigative commission on Aug. 19 that Ukraine’s Defense Ministry is preparing a reform of Territorial Recruitment and Social Support Centers.Roman Kostenko, the secretary of parliament’s National Security, Defense and Intelligence Committee, said officials are preparing “radical” changes to mobilization procedures, including possible revisions to conscription-age rules. Other Topics of Interest Where the City Becomes the Front Line Freed from Russian occupation but never from war, Kherson lives under daily shelling and drone attacks, including Russian FPVs deliberately targeting civilians. He, however, did not say whether the age threshold would rise or fall, although he did say that a shift to exclusively voluntary recruitment was not planned, Ukrainska Pravda reported.Women will not be mobilizedFollowing former US presidential envoy Keith Kellogg’s comments that Ukraine should mobilize women, Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, issued a statement the following day, saying there are no legislative initiatives, draft laws or internal discussions regarding women’s mobilization.“Statements by individual speakers publicly speculating on this subject do not reflect actual legislative work or the committee’s position,” the statement read, urging the public “not to fall for manipulation and to rely only on official sources of information.”Women can join Ukraine’s Defense Forces exclusively on a voluntary basis, though some categories of women – such as those with medical or pharmaceutical qualifications – are required to register for military service.Registration, however, does not mean automatic conscription or assignment to combat duties.On a voluntary basis, women are increasingly taking on dangerous humanitarian roles, including delivering aid in frontline areas and serving as evacuation medics.Russia’s new recruitment plansThe comments come as Ukraine’s military intelligence said on Thursday that Russia is preparing an additional mobilization wave that could bring 600,000 people into its war effort across 2026-27.Moscow reportedly plans to recruit 300,000 people each year amid rising losses and slowing contract recruitment.According to the Presidential Office, Russian personnel losses from January through July totaled about 240,000, including at least 140,000 irrecoverable losses, while contract recruitment reached 232,000 people during that period.Russia has not independently confirmed those figures.Kyiv says Russia is tightening military registration rules, expanding eligibility for prisoners and women in penal colonies, and developing coercive measures, including restrictions on travel, loans, property transactions, driving licenses, and bank accounts.Efforts to revive stalled diplomacyAround the same time on Thursday, Budanov said a new round of talks between Ukrainian and Russian delegations could take place as early as September.Though the negotiations are currently paused, Budanov said they could soon be “revived.”The comments come as US-brokered efforts to end Russia’s war remain stalled, though several media outlets about a renewed effort.According to the New York Times, CIA Director John Ratcliffe used a secretive trip to Moscow this week to warn Russia that its military and economic positions would deteriorate further if the Kremlin refused to pursue diplomatic efforts.The Wall Street Journal and Politico reported on Wednesday, Aug. 26, that Ratcliffe also warned Russian President Vladimir Putin against attacking a NATO member, particularly Estonia, Latvia or Lithuania – the three Baltic states that border Russia.Because NATO members supply Kyiv with weapons to defend itself, Russia increasingly sees Ukraine’s attacks as attacks from NATO itself. 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