Requiring permission to travel abroad for those under 23 is completely senseless decision, - Butusov
The best pilots for FPV drones are young people, so allowing them to travel abroad before the age of 23 is a senseless decision.
This was stated by Yurii Butusov, commander of the unmanned systems platoon of the "Khartiia" Brigade, during a live broadcast, according to Censor.NET.
Details
"I don't understand the logic behind allowing citizens under the age of 22 to travel abroad. What’s the point of that at all? Do we not need young, trained people to defend the country later on? Or instead of these people—who are now 18 to 22 and have gone abroad, and a significant portion of whom will not return—is someone bringing in new people, new fighters, to replace them? No. Well, that’s just blatant populism," he emphasized.
Butusov noted that the armies of the United States and European countries include a large number of young people.
"If the point is that we need to protect young people and provide them with an education, I believe that young people, even those aged 18 to 22, should be preparing to defend the country. And in order to provide them with the best knowledge so that they can fight using their minds, intellect, and skills, young people should, in my view, simply join the relevant units.
First and foremost, the UAV units. If we send all our young people to reinforce the ranks and mobilize them for the war in the UAV units, well, believe me, that will be enough. Every loss is painful for us, but these will be minimal losses. This will be an investment in intellect, it will be the creation of citizens of a new nation. These won’t be people cut off, abandoned. On the contrary, these will be young people," the commander explained.
According to Butusov, young pilots are a gold mine.
"I’ll be frank with you: I don’t know a single person in the Defense Forces, and I’ve never met anyone who would support this initiative or say anything positive—even a single good thing—about this decision by our leadership, our political leaders. Everyone says it’s an absolutely foolish and senseless decision that greatly harms Ukraine’s defense. And I’m just as certain of that now.
I believe that young people starting at age 23—that is, our current draft age is 25—I believe that’s too high a bar, at a minimum, we need to lower the draft age to 23 right now, this very year," the commander emphasized.
He noted that the best pilots, for example, for FPV drones, are young people.
"They have excellent motor skills, excellent reflexes, healthy eyes, and a high level of concentration and attention. They know how to work with gadgets.
A drone operator is someone who works with a gadget—whether it’s in the air or on the ground. We need young people. That is why I am a staunch supporter of repealing this utterly absurd decision allowing legal departure after the age of 18. And I believe that the draft age should be immediately lowered to 23 in order to provide people with technical knowledge and replenish the army with qualified young people," Butusov concluded.
Read the full transcript of Yurii Butusov’s broadcast on the situation at the front and within the military by following the link.
