Zelenskyy disrupts mobilization: What should state do?
Yurii Butusov, Editor-in-Chief of Censor.NET, shared his thoughts on mobilization, the need to register all men, ways to mobilize prisoners and the necessary actions on the part of the state. He also raised the issue of the large number of draft dodgers and objectors.
The year 24 has begun. Two years of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation, 10 years of war. But Ukraine has no effective law on mobilization. The consequences are very severe. We all know that the situation at the front is difficult precisely because our soldiers, especially the infantry on the front line, have no reserves that could constantly reinforce the front to give rest to those soldiers who are on the front line. Of course, this problem requires comprehensive solutions. Today we will once again devote our entire broadcast to this topic, because the government is not solving it.
I would like to remind you that on December 25, the Cabinet of Ministers introduced a draft law on mobilization, it was submitted to the Verkhovna Rada, there were big disputes, and the law was never adopted. So we will talk about the main aspects. There will be several blocks on the air. First, we will talk about what is happening now with the law on mobilization. Second, we will touch upon problems related to mobilization, for example, the activities of volunteer formations of territorial communities, which are now being disbanded by the authorities, and this is a big mistake. Third, we will talk about the mobilization of prisoners. The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, said that prisoners are not needed in the army. However, many people in the army disagree with this position. Perhaps prisoners are not needed in the army. But in war, any people who are able to hold weapons and perform dangerous tasks are needed. And there are officers and commanders in the Armed Forces who believe that it is necessary to involve prisoners as well. This also requires certain systemic solutions. We will also discuss the issue of a large number of draft dodgers. This will be the next block. And we will talk about objectors and what to do with them. The experience of the third assault brigade shows that with certain systemic solutions, you can work with any people at the front and produce results.
UMIEROV'S DRAFT LAW ON MOBILIZATION
So, we will talk in general about how to effectively use the available human and material resources. Let me remind you that a great event happened today (12 January 2024 - ed.). Defence Minister Rustem Umierov took responsibility for mobilization for the first time. Previously, strangely enough, although he was responsible for this, Umierov stood aside. Press conferences were held by anyone. The press conference on mobilization was held only by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Zaluzhnyi. Not the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who, according to the law on mobilization and the Constitution, is the only person who has to develop mobilization measures and sign the decree. And not the Cabinet of Ministers, which actually had to make this decision in a comprehensive manner. For the first time today, Defence Minister Umierov said that he had drafted a bill and was ready to submit it again. This is very good. Because yesterday, the Verkhovna Rada considered the law on mobilization and failed to pass it. It decided to send it back to the Cabinet of Ministers. That is how we play football. President Zelenskyy, who was supposed to submit a law on mobilization two years ago, speaks at a press conference and says: it's not me, it's military that will do it. The military, i.e. Zaluzhnyi, says at the press conference: how can I submit a law? I am not a subject of legislative initiative. This is not my authority. The Cabinet of Ministers submits a draft law, but neither the Cabinet of Ministers, Prime Minister Shmyhal nor the Minister of Defence speaks on this topic. It was a paradoxical situation. That's why the Verkhovna Rada sent the draft law back to the Cabinet of Ministers. I hope that finally this shameful football, football with human lives, will stop. When the Verkhovna Rada, the President, and the Cabinet of Ministers do not want to mobilize, we suffer losses at the frontline. We cannot hold our ground. We cannot strengthen those people who hold the frontline on their shoulders, because there are no reserves, no rotation in the required number, and this has a very difficult impact on the course of hostilities. Of course, such issues need to be resolved as soon as possible... A dangerous game is being played with the lives of soldiers on the front line. In fact, with this football, President Zelenskyy shows that it is he who is disrupting mobilization. Because neither he nor the Supreme Commander-in-Chief's Staff have developed a law that should have been adopted long ago. We are already entering the third year of the war, 2024, and we do not have a plan for mobilizing and using people. This is simply absurd.
So let's talk now about what exactly is required from the law on mobilization, where to look for people, and how to motivate them. Let's start with this constructive part. I am wearing an example of such proper mobilization work. This branded hoodie was given to me by the fighters of the Luftwaffe air reconnaissance unit of the 129th Territorial Defence Brigade. They are my friends. It is a great honor for me. This is one of the best and most professional aerial reconnaissance units, which, despite being part of the Kryvyi Rih territorial defense brigade, operates very effectively along the entire frontline. It uses different types of drones. And people are going there. Even now, people from civilian life come there. Why? Because there is proper work there, attention to working with people, team building, results, heavy workloads, a large number of tasks, and great risks. But this unit can attract people and produce results, working in the interests of many military units. This is an example of the fact that the army is not a structure that needs to be driven with a stick. There is also positive motivation at war, and there are military teams where people go. It requires information work, connections, competence, and proper organization of work within the team because the best advertisers for each unit are the soldiers of that unit themselves. People come primarily by acquaintance, thanks to some informational work on the blog. As the commander of the Luftwaffe unit, Mykola Kolisnyk has a blog on Facebook and has now opened a YouTube channel with the results of his work. This is the right organization and management. That's why people are coming. Why do you need a law on mobilization in the first place? The law on mobilization is needed so that we have a system of accounting. We don't have a record of all the people the state should and can call up to serve in the army.
ABOUT DANIA NOVIKOV
We do not have a system of accounting for the specialties and competencies that all persons liable for military service have. It is not necessary that all people who join the army have to get into a trench with an assault rifle. This is not always effective. As an example, I was just shocked by a story. I read a story that was posted online by a soldier just the day before yesterday. The famous journalist Lesia Handzha told the story. According to my information, it happened in the first Bohun Special Forces Brigade. A 21-year-old FPV drone operator, Danylo Novikov, who had successfully fought in this position, studied and worked in Belgium at the beginning of the Russian invasion, returned home to defend Ukraine at the age of 19. He went to war voluntarily and was an operator of fpv drones. This is one of the key military specialties nowadays, which allows inflicting serious losses on the enemy and deterring the enemy. Neither offensive nor defensive actions are possible without fpv drones. And now, unfortunately, a situation has arisen where this 21-year-old young man was removed from drone operators and transferred to ground attack aircraft. He was sent to the front line near Bakhmut. And, unfortunately, during his first combat mission, he was killed on the front line in battle. He was hit by a Russian fpv drone. And after the Russians launched a series of attacks on this position, on our infantrymen with fpv drones, unfortunately, we had some dead and wounded and had to leave the position. The enemy captured it. Despite the death, unfortunately, of Ukrainian hero Danylo Novikov. This is an example of when commanders do not understand the nature and essence of modern warfare. When a position can be held exclusively in modern warfare with the use of high-precision weapons, when the use of fpv drones creates a decisive advantage over any infantry unit and allows you to knock out infantry and advance. The commander, as far as I know, of one of the battalions of this first Special Forces brigade, not understanding the nature of drones, the nature of the forces and people he had, instead of supporting and organizing the defence of the area with the use of fpv drones, took an fpv drone operator and put him in an attack aircraft. As a result, a man was killed, and the position was still not held. The task was not completed. Yes, at the cost of these lives, we held the position for one day. And then the enemy took it anyway. Because there was no drone operator at that moment to strike at these positions, to prevent Russian infantry from approaching, to search for and destroy the positions of Russian drone operators. Instead, a person with a specialty was sent to the attack aircraft and simply disrupted the actual execution of a combat mission. I was just going on air and thought that this is an example of what the purpose of mobilization should be. We have a frontline of 800 kilometres. This is a relatively small area. For the infantry to survive, there must be engineering units on this front that constantly dig engineering structures, so that the troops do not live in houses that are hit by bombs, but live in well-equipped dugouts. Ammunition should also be stored in the ground. We need to protect our equipment from Russian drones, lancets, and FPVs in reliable positions. To build false positions, reserve positions, main positions. As the enemy destroys something, something new and bigger is built. This is a constant work. Yes, it is not 100% protection. But it increases the survival rate, the quality of use, the combat capability of people, and the quality of their lives. Next. Someone has to put these turret mounts on the frontline and control them for remote-controlled weapons. Machine guns should be controlled with optical devices that can hold positions better than an infantry unit. There should be operators of different types of drones. That is, a set is now needed for each section of the front. For every 2 km, you need a set of operators who use different types of drones around the clock to prevent Russian troops from even approaching to inflict permanent damage on the enemy. This is modern warfare.
That is, we need to first formulate a doctrine of war under which we mobilize. Then we have people who go to the army, maybe not all of them are brave Rambos, stormtroopers or can become such. Maybe not all of them are healthy. Because I want to tell you, it is very difficult for a person to live on the ground. It is a big blow to health. Not everyone can fight like that. But a much larger number of people can use technical means. And the frontline must be held with technical means. No one is demanding that the Ministry of Defence and the General Staff buy everything. They don't have the money. Most of the drones are still bought by volunteers and the military themselves. Most of the vehicles are still bought by volunteers and military personnel. It is the responsibility of the state to ensure that fpv drone operators are not thrown into attack aircraft. And this is a common phenomenon. For example, I have also been informed by the 77th Airborne Assault Brigade that drone operators have been transferred to the infantry. This is absurd in modern warfare. A skilled drone operator, if used well, can help hold any position. And if you add 10 more infantrymen with shovels and assault rifles to the position, but you have no air cover, no competent drone operators, the position will not be held. This is a matter of 1-2 days. The enemy will knock out the position with their drones and move forward. We need to understand why, for what mobilization we are gathering people. And for what positions. Only then will the mobilization be carried out. Unfortunately, so far we have not received such a plan from the General Staff of the Armed Forces. There is a desire to put everyone in attack aircraft. This is actually a completely wrong desire. And now let's move on to the next set of questions, which also surprised me a lot.
VFTC (Voluntary formation of a territorial community)
I am approached by many people who serve in volunteer formations of territorial communities. So, these VFTCs are now performing many important tasks: they are fighting drones in mobile groups, protecting facilities. For the state, the existence of such rear units is quite beneficial. Because they are not military personnel. There are a lot of people who serve in the units, and they actually have reservations. Many people who, for health reasons, age, will still be ineffective on the front line. You can't put them in the trenches. There are many such people. But the VFTCs do not receive a salary from the state. The state does not spend money, for example, on their maintenance in the city of permanent deployment, on food. These people live at home. A significant number of them are of limited fitness. And they cost the state a kopeck, but they perform important tasks. I believe that the disbandment of the VFTC is a big and serious mistake. The VFTC is exactly the kind of territorial defense it should be. Defense at the place of residence. Of course, some people do not fulfill the task and are accounted for somewhere else, using everything to go about their business. However, the legislation for the period of war needs to be improved. We need to introduce a discipline for fulfilling tasks. But why destroy them completely? This is absurd. The VFTC is a structure that is beneficial to the state. It should be preserved as a territorial defense at the place of residence of citizens, those categories of citizens who have limited fitness or have reservations and in their free time they are involved in combat missions at their place of residence for a certain period. Among these people are civil servants and workers of vital infrastructure, and elderly people. They cannot serve permanently, but they can do their combat work for a certain period of time. This is a normal story that is beneficial for the state. And accounting for military specialties is the main thing for which the law on mobilization is needed. As soon as there is registration, the state will have many tools for forcing, for stimulating. Our main problem is the lack of registration. But no one is discussing registration. We need to understand how many of our citizens are fit to perform any tasks in the home front, in the defense industry (this is also important), from 18 to the maximum age. How many people can help the army in other positions. We need as many healthy people as possible, who can be trained as infantrymen for the most wanted specialties, to do just that. So that they can be sent to the front. We need to keep track of everyone in order to properly calculate resources.
However, the army itself needs to be put in order. Because we have a large number of absolutely inefficient military units with very low quality training, very low quality of work organization, but there are tens of thousands of people who are not really doing anything. It is very important that the training units have instructors with adequate combat experience, as was the case in the First and Second World Wars in all the major armies of the major powers, and that training units are created at combat units. Then each brigade is interested in the quality of this training. It will receive a set of people, a training programme, and it will train people itself and transfer to this training unit from its ranks, for example, some experienced sergeants, instructors, people who have been wounded for some time. They pass on their combat experience. And we have this Soviet system where an ordinary infantryman is trained in some distant training center by people who have not been to war, have no motivation and live in the rear. So, this huge structure of training units in the rear, which are cut off from the active army, is ineffective for us. That is, everything needs to be accounted for and people used correctly. But for proper mobilization, people need logic. Not a truncheon, but logic, which position they are going to take. Because modern warfare is a war of technology. The number of people with assault rifles with a shovel and in the trenches matters, but infantry alone cannot pull out the equipment in a positional war. It is not enough just in numbers. The war has changed. It is no longer manoeuvre-based. It is now positional. And on this positional front, the quality and quantity of equipment, the quality and quantity of high-precision weapons, the quality and quantity of intelligence means are of key importance, not personal heroism. The manifestation of heroism in positional warfare is the result of poor management, shortcomings in the supply of military equipment and munitions. And this tragic case of Danylo Novikov is just one such illustration. An illustration of what modern warfare is all about. The main casualty is infantry, which, without the cover of its own electronic warfare equipment, without the cover of its own drones, without strikes on the enemy with its own drones, will not be able to hold any position for long. The enemy will overwhelm it from the air, there will be losses, then there will be losses in evacuation, there will be wounded - that's it. The position will be abandoned. You can't just hold it with a machine gun and a shovel. We do not have this realization that the war has changed. Our state leadership does not understand that modern mobilization does not require simply driving a certain number of people and doing something with them. Modern warfare requires that the person being recruited knows at a glance the scope of what he or she will be doing. They need to understand that even if they can't run around with a rifle and a grenade launcher, they will have a position where they can use their skills and competences. That's when we use this small number of people who are left, who need to be recruited and trained, people who are needed in modern infantry warfare. And here we come to the next stage, when we have accounting, when we have structuring, then we have priority of military specialties. Of course, in modern warfare, an infantryman sitting in a trench is the most expensive person who should have the most privileges, the most benefits, the most salaries, and should have the most rest, the most opportunities for rehabilitation, for rotation. And this must be done at the frontline. When we say that Russia is bigger than us, it does not mean that it is bigger than us everywhere. We need to create power balance with it on the 800-kilometre frontline at this point. At least that's what we need to do. This is one of the main problems of mobilization - accounting. First, we need accounting. Secondly, we need to protect the rights of the mobilized. This is one of the main problems of mobilization. This must be included in the draft law. So that people who get into certain positions, people who have certain rights, are not mistreated in the army, as, unfortunately, is very often the case. The state is always thinking of ways to hit those who evade the draft on the head. And the truncheon works well when you have the right motivation. When a person who has gone to war realizes that he is not deprived of civil rights creature there. And when you join the army, you have rights. So that a person does not have to run around for papers, for combat payments, to prove something, to write off property. People should come and understand that when you come here to a combat position, for example, in the infantry, you are in a privileged position. You are the main person in the war. Not a person at the headquarters or in a rear training unit who works from 9 to 18 and then goes home to his family. But a person who is on the front line, in a trench, all the time. This is a privileged person. This should be the attitude of the top leadership, the military leadership and the political leadership.
MOBILIZATION OF PRISONERS
Therefore, the first thing is accounting. The second is the rights of the mobilized. Third, of course, there should be certain categories of people whom the state can send to the front additionally, who are violators of rights and violators of laws. That is, if we are talking about prisoners, I do not agree with the opinion of the military leadership. I believe that prisoners, and many military officers say this, should also be able to fight. This is a resource that should be used at the front. Because we need all kinds of people where there is a risk. For people who have violated the law, especially for serious crimes, grave crimes, murder, grievous bodily harm, and those who have done so, now is the time when they should be used at the front where there is a risk. And we need to look at the experience of using prisoners in the Russian Federation. We need to study any experience. It happened during the Second World War in different countries. And it is now during the actual Third World War. We are thinking about how to mobilize law-abiding citizens, but for some reason, we do not have a system for mobilizing and using disobedient people at the front. Of course, special disciplinary measures should be allowed in such units so that they are manageable and the word of the commander is the law. But all this should be done within the framework of mobilization.
Why does mobilization in Ukraine affect only those who come to the military enlistment office with a call-up notice? It should concern all citizens. The fourth thing that is necessary... It is already the fifth section... As for prisoners, I will soon have an interview with one of the Ukrainian officers who is ready to head the prisoner unit, who clearly explains how it should work and what legislative support it needs. He believes that this is absolutely necessary. This is one of the outstanding Ukrainian heroes, a man with extensive experience in management and personal participation in combat operations.
Next, we have the problem of draft dodgers, lawbreakers. We have no measures of coercion and we have no measures to organize them. But there was news from the State Border Guard Service that 20 Ukrainian citizens have already drowned in the Tisza River while trying to escape mobilization abroad. This is not to say that these people are not capable of doing anything. For some reason, they decided that the Tisza was safer than participating in hostilities. I would like to say that near Bakhmut I saw the use of certain categories of citizens who, in principle, committed several offenses as part of, for example, the third assault brigade. I personally saw several people who had problems, who had violated the law, fight very effectively. They fought very effectively after the whole team worked with them, talked to them, convinced them, found some effective things that reached their consciousness. And as a result, people did, I want to tell you that one of the combat episodes I saw was a real, genuine feat that anyone could be proud of. This was done by a man who broke the law. He stayed alive. He performed an important combat mission. This shows that in fact, if there is a team, if there are sergeants, if there are adequate commanders who understand people, if there is an attentive attitude to everyone.
ABOUT ANDRII BILETSKYI
I believe that such teams as the Third Assault Brigade, which is commanded and administered by Andrii Biletskyi, could just get additional units that would consist of such evaders and objectors. Now, during the great war, there are no people who are not needed by the army. If a person wants to swim across the Tisza to escape, then he has a certain determination and a certain logic in his head. But how to apply them at the front? We have people, we have commanders who know how to do this. They need to be given legal authority to make it a systematic logic of application. And they will do it. Unfortunately, the state has not yet used this initiative of theirs. There are opportunities that, unfortunately, we don't want to discuss, because we need to take responsibility. Yes, we need to take responsibility so as not to call up everyone who pays taxes, works, and is a professional. We need to make sure that not only certain law-abiding categories of the population fight, but that all categories of the population have to fight during the general mobilization. It depends on the legislators. If these measures affect everyone, then everyone will fulfill them. In our country, some categories of people have to be mobilized, while others are planning a concert of the 95th Kvartal in Bukovel. Yes, of course, it is difficult to mobilize and motivate people. Of course, they understand that there are different options, that not everyone cares about the war. For example, some people have connections with the authorities. Therefore, these mobilization measures must affect everyone.
Next. What is fundamentally important is communication. We have no communication about mobilization. The government is silent. The President does not talk about it in his evening reports. Although he is the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. He has to say it every day. He is the one who is expected to say it. Defense Minister Umierov should speak about mobilization every day. Why doesn't he? And here the question immediately arises. Because if you advertise service in the Armed Forces, then in Ukraine, for example, it is considered so. It is enough to put an advertisement somewhere: serve in the Armed Forces, go to such and such a brigade. But this is not enough to motivate a person. People want to understand that, for example, they are far from war, but they want to work properly, to acquire skills in a good team, and they want to be alive when performing combat missions. How to understand this? How to overcome fear? Well, there is only one way to overcome fear in war. Preparation. When a person is ready morally and professionally. He is in a team that he trusts, he has comrades who will help him out in case of emergency or work with him. There are commanders whom he trusts, and they are adequate. All this needs to be built. And training is key in this regard. Do we have quality training? Unfortunately, no. Without changes in training, nothing will happen. The best advertisement for the Armed Forces right now is when the president, the defense minister, and all the generals say how well they have organized the training of the military. And now we have the question that no one is responsible for this. Everyone is good. And everyone loves Zaluzhnyi. Everyone takes pictures. And everyone loves Syrskyi. He is also a good general. Everyone loves the president, everyone applauds him - he did well, he did not run away. The Minister of Defense is a good man, he communicates with everyone. Who is responsible for training? Why are unprepared soldiers who still lack basic skills, in the second year of the war, when there is such a shortage of people, sent to the front? Who is responsible for this? Nobody. Everyone is good. And who is bad? The system is bad. Who made it? Probably the previous government. Or maybe it was the previous one. Why isn't it being done now? Ah... and here, instead, we'll take another picture and write something good again, so that people will applaud us and everything will be fine.
Unfortunately, there is no responsibility for the lives of people in the army. And there is no responsibility for the lives of people in the state. That's why, in fact, the ratings of many politicians still exist. Yesterday, for example, the head of the Servant of the People faction, David Arakhamia, said that the law on mobilization is a problem for the military, that the military wrote something there, and that deputies and the Servants of the People do not agree with it. That is the head of the faction that rules the country, which should have prepared such a law for the defense of the country in 2 years, which receives a salary from taxpayers. He says: "It's not us who are mobilizing, it's the military. How can it not be you, when it is the "servants of the people" who are responsible for the law on mobilization? This is a political decision. The military is fighting, using people. And political decisions supply people, weapons, and equipment. Laws in the army are political power. "Servants of the people." This is such a lie, I'm just shocked. It seems that the government has decided to fight not the enemy. They are at war with the Ukrainian people. It is fighting with lies, political statements and pretending that it is not involved.
I believe that the behavior of Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Servant of the People party regarding the law on mobilization is the behavior of evaders. Only they are not swimming across the Tisza, they are swimming in a telethon. They are running away from real problems, from people who are waging war. But this is the same course of action. The evaders in power provoke the evaders from the war. And in this way, they themselves contribute to war evaders. Because you have to start with yourself. We have to stop the "servants of the people", as we can see from the criminal cases of the NABU, from formulating fictitious permits to travel abroad, and stop this evasion of mobilization among our own business partners. This will be an event. Unfortunately, we do not have this. Instead of planning the mobilization of all available human resources, the law on mobilization is now again "let someone take someone, and it will not be the ruling party." We will continue to criticize this process.
GENERAL ACCOUNTING AND "DIIA"
I believe that there should be generalized accounting as soon as possible. This accounting must be linked to our well-known Diia program. I disagree with the Minister of Digitalization Fedorov that Diia will not be used to send out draft notices to people liable for military service. Why not? This is a public service. Isn't defending the state, protecting the country, a public service? This is absurd. And how can we do that? What else is there to create some kind of military "action"? There must be a clear logic for organizing all resources. This must be done. Every person, a person of 18 years of age, an adult, if he or she has a desire, can be employed, for example, at a defense enterprise, to do important work, not necessarily at a factory. I saw that a company that assembles drones employs 18- to 20-year-olds to assemble and solder drones, and they do a good job. They also get paid. This is an effective way.
Okay, now let's move on to answering questions.
OPPOSITION AND THE LAW ON MOBILIZATION
The headline reads: Zelenskyy disrupts mobilization. However, the law was actively opposed by opposition parliamentary parties. Why aren't the names of Poroshenko and Tymoshenko in your accusations?
Dear Kredo, I want to tell you that according to the law of Ukraine and the Constitution of Ukraine, the President of Ukraine is responsible for mobilization. At the moment, his name is Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Not Poroshenko or Tymoshenko. And Volodymyr Zelenskyy has a ruling parliamentary majority. And in order to pass this law, he does not need any opposition in principle. They do not affect the voting results. He can give a command, and it will be fulfilled. That's how it should have been done. It's strange that you still don't know how our political system works. And the fact that there is someone against it, the opposition parties, please let the Servants of the People pass the law quickly on their own, and then accuse the opposition parties of not supporting the mobilization. And the situation will be different. Then they are good, and the opposition is not. But they don't do that. And they are the government.
MOBILIZATION OF VOLUNTEERS
Should volunteers be mobilized?
I think that anyone should mobilize if there is a need for his work, the military unit needs him. They can do important work. Even volunteers can do it. And women are mobilized. And elderly people. But, of course, not everyone can mobilize. We have a system where, in fact, the mobilization of many categories of people is not yet adequately used and there is no need for it. I mean, what I see in the work of, for example, car service stations. The great work that service stations do is needed in the format in which service stations operate. I said earlier that I would not actually mobilize people. I would mobilize organizations where people work. I would mobilize enterprises, service stations. I would give the masters a reservation. I would allow them to recruit people for this reservation. But at the same time, I would set tasks for the repair of automotive and armored vehicles. There is a huge need to repair equipment. The army cannot fulfill it. All army vehicles are serviced by private service stations, and they are needed. Why mobilize them? If they are mobilized into the army, they will not be able to repair a car with their equipment and competencies in their place, for example. So it all depends on the situation. Well, a volunteer. Everyone does different volunteer work. Some volunteers do very important work without being in the army. And it is not yet clear whether the army will be able to use them. I want to tell you that, in principle, the quality of people, the training of people, and the use of people are important to us now. Because the state cannot pay everyone a big salary. We need taxpayers. The army needs people who can perform complex combat missions. And the issues of logistics, rear guard issues - all this can be done, it is more profitable for us to have volunteers and volunteers, of course, who are organized, structured, managed. But we see now that the state is cutting all payments to the military. Why is it doing this? Because there is no money in the budget. Unfortunately, we have the same level of management in the economy as in all other areas. That's why there are no taxes, no way to maintain everything. If we mobilize everyone now, we will face another problem: at whose expense will they be paid at least their salaries? That is, now the mobilization should not be about forcing everyone to join, but about accepting trained people into its ranks. The people who should be used are certain special categories, prisoners, lawbreakers, evaders, anyone - such categories that have already broken the law are recorded. But at the front, in the war, you need people who have good training and good support.
HOW TO INCREASE MOTIVATION FOR MOBILIZATION
Does it make sense to catch unmotivated people and send them to the front? Are such people useful in the war?
There is definitely no need to catch them. This is the worst advertisement for living in Ukraine and serving in the army - these raids on the street. They occur because there is no accounting. Nobody knows anything about people. A patrol is walking along and looking for someone who looks like they might be serving in the army. Our raids on the streets are the result of complete chaos in public administration and the fact that the state does not have a basic accounting system. However, there is Diia, and it is a good tool. Any person can be useful in the war. Even an unmotivated person, if he or she receives good support, good training, equipment, will be integrated into the combat team. But it's a different story when a person is grabbed on the street. They don't give him training. They don't give you the equipment you need. They don't know what to do in the war, they are thrown into some unit. And then they are assigned to some unit and go to a landing, sit in a trench, and survive. Then an unmotivated person becomes hyper-motivated and suffers a mental trauma. In this case, it's a 100% bad example, and there's no use in it. I wrote about an example when a person died, but there are cases when people died the next day after arriving at the front. Because they were not prepared in the rear. They are good, ready to go somewhere, for example. But they do not even realize where they are, they are not prepared for these conditions. And for some random reason, they die. And other comrades are demotivated. The state suffers losses.
I intend to join the Armed Forces. Can you tell me which brigades are better to avoid and where we can safely join?
Denys, our brigades are such large organisms. Every brigade, even the bad ones, has adequate people or small adequate units. I don't want to offend people by saying on air that this brigade is bad, this brigade is good. Write to me in a Facebook messenger, in direct, and I will tell you my recommendations according to your preferences. In my opinion, it is always important to look for a team in war. Comrades with whom you are ready to go through this difficult and very risky path in your life. Write to me, I will advise you several options, in my opinion, for any of your preferences
MOBILIZATION OF POLICE OFFICERS
Indeed, why not send a certain number of police officers to war?
Dear friends, we do have a large number of law enforcement agencies, a large number of people in these law enforcement agencies, and a significant number of them can be used at the front. But we need the police. And we need border guards. Even the tax service is needed. We have a problem of accounting. Do we need so many police officers in the central apparatus? Are they all important there? Do we need so many employees, healthy men in the tax service? In the customs service? In other government agencies - we have dozens of ministries and departments. There are not enough police officers on the street. We need police on the street. Because there are always emergencies. There are offenders. And order must be maintained. That's why I'm against the idea of taking all the police away. I know that the National Police has created its own separate brigade called " Fury". But the main thing I want to say is that we need accounting - accounting for needs. We do not have enough people, because there are many needs, and not enough people to cover all these needs and provide them with material resources. And if our law on mobilization is just a truncheon, how can we restrict the rights of those law-abiding citizens who pay taxes, are legal employees and therefore can be easily found in the database? And we don't touch everyone else, because it's harder to find them. This will be a failed mobilization. It will be a failure in the rear of the state. Failure of the economy. Failure in the organization of the state's life. We need mobilization as an accounting of all human resources. We need to define all categories that can be involved in a certain amount at the front. Special legislation if we are talking about the use of prisoners and lawbreakers at the front. We need to strengthen discipline. Additional simplification of accounting. We need a privileged status and maximum support for the infantry, first of all, those who are on the front line in the trenches. Maximum support, maximum rotation, rest, vacations. This is the systematic use of people. I want to tell you that there is nothing extraordinary about this. Many countries conducted mass mobilization in the twentieth century. The United States, Britain, Germany. And this experience has long been studied. This problem arises only because our government, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is simply criminal inaction, irresponsible, and does not want to do it. They want it to happen on its own, like on February 24, 2022. People somehow came to the war without the authorities, self-organized, provided for themselves, and solved their issues. And the government simply appointed leaders, generals, brigade and battalion commanders, everything. Go ahead and fight. We do not interfere with you. Here is the ammunition as it is. There is no more. That's all. Mobilization should be to the front, to the front line, to the rear, to rear units, to the factory, and to the scientific sphere. There should be mobilization in business as well. Because taxes, those who pay a lot of taxes, are also needed by the country, as they bring us currency from abroad. A currency that we need for what? To buy weapons and drones from abroad. This is the kind of mobilization we need. Systemic, comprehensive. And we have no people management. And if you don't know how to manage people, you don't know how to manage material resources. And no one but the state leadership will do it. It will not be a self-organized process. And Russia is currently ahead of us in terms of the quality of public administration, the systematic nature of the decisions they apply, in the construction of defense structures, the production of weapons, just because they have logic. They want to destroy Ukraine. They are gradually moving towards this goal - stupidly, bloody, with great losses. And we have a lot of ideas, a lot of words, and no systematic, planned actions. We can't even get ahead of the enemy, we can't even catch up. We are lagging behind. Russia passed the law on mobilization in September 2022. Now it is January 2024, and Ukraine has no modern law on mobilization. What can I say? Who is responsible for this? The president is silent. He is not here. He is always busy. He has nothing to do with mobilization. He has nothing to do with the fight against corruption. He has nothing to do with anything good, which is good for his rating. It has to do with the telethon. Therefore, dear friends, the only way we can bring the authorities to their senses is through public criticism and instructions to the authorities on what they should do. Because we see that they are in complete despair and do not know what to do. Only public pressure, when some important topics are discussed on Facebook, YouTube, social networks, outside the telethon, where there is a lot of approval and joy. Only here is it possible to force the authorities to do systemic things through public pressure. So we will do it. Our civil society is very strong. This is our advantage, which we must use to bring about the necessary changes.
Friends, thank you for being with me on the air. Thank you to all the viewers of Butusov+, thank you to our sponsors. There are almost 1,700 of them. Thanks to these sponsors, we can work regularly. I will increase the number of broadcasts and streams that you are interested in. Please write with topics and questions, and thank you all. Today, more than ever, I am confident that we are able to achieve victory, and with this belief I say goodbye to you until the next broadcast. Glory to Ukraine, friends!
