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The average age of Ukrainian soldiers fighting Russia is 43-45, while the youngest troops remain exempt from front-line combat
Fortune ^ | May 26, 2024 | OLESIA SAFRONOVA, KATERYNA CHOURSINA, DARYNA KRASNOLUTSKA

Posted on 05/29/2024 2:30:20 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican

As thousands fled Kyiv in the first days of Russia’s 2022 invasion, one 57-year-old grandmother hurried in the opposite direction. Liudmyla Menyuk was going to sign up for the army to avenge her son who’d been killed fighting the Russians almost a decade before.

Many Ukrainians of Menyuk’s age have volunteered, sometimes motivated — like she was — by the explicit wish to stand in for a youth who might otherwise die in their place. “I performed my duties well,” she told Bloomberg in an interview, “so I could save the life of a young Ukrainian.”

But the enthusiasm of Ukraine’s elder citizens compared with their younger counterparts has turned into a weakness for the country’s army, as the onslaught against it drags into a third year and it struggles to repel Russia’s advances. With his country outgunned and outmanned, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has been vocal about the country’s need for weapons — and recently reaped the reward of his appeals. He is quieter on the much more sensitive matter of the need for men.

Front-line soldiers interviewed by Bloomberg said the aid package approved by US Congress last month has started to ease pressure on equipment, which had been heavily rationed so long as the bill’s passage remained uncertain. Yet, despite a new mobilization law lowering the age of the draft, manpower remains a problem.

“Most of the people I talk to are about 40-45 years old,” said Pavlo Narozhnyi, who raises funds for artillerymen, adding that “younger people — especially younger than 30 — are relatively rare.” A senior military official speaking on condition of anonymity echoed that assessment, citing an average fighting age of 43-45.

(Excerpt) Read more at fortune.com ...


TOPICS: Ukraine
KEYWORDS: darynakrasnolutska; katerynachoursina; killkillkillforpeace; mic; olesiasafronova; tothelastukrainian; ukraine; welfarewar
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1 posted on 05/29/2024 2:30:20 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
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To: MinorityRepublican

Where are the young people and why won’t they fight?


2 posted on 05/29/2024 2:33:52 PM PDT by ConservativeMind (Trump: Befuddling Democrats, Republicans, and the Media for the benefit of the US and all mankind.)
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To: MinorityRepublican

Depleting the population of military-aged males who might back a coup, if it got to that stage. Younger males who haven’t seen battle tend to be more passive.


3 posted on 05/29/2024 2:34:36 PM PDT by CatOwner (Don't expect anyone, even conservatives, to have your back when the SHTF in 2021 and beyond.)
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To: MinorityRepublican

why do you think the average age is 43-45?


4 posted on 05/29/2024 2:34:40 PM PDT by JonPreston ( ✌ ☮️ )
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To: ConservativeMind

Take a look at their demographics after the collapse of the Soviet Union. They're trying to preserve this generation of young men so Ukraine can survive.

5 posted on 05/29/2024 2:35:36 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
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To: MinorityRepublican
This saves Ukraine in the long run by not having to spend as much on senior benefits. It also means less of their baby-making population is dying in the war.

but it's still a losing war for Ukraine.

6 posted on 05/29/2024 2:35:51 PM PDT by Tell It Right (A1st Thessalonians 5:21 -- Put everything to the test, hold fast to that which is true.)
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To: Tell It Right
Putin will turn 72 this year.

So this is where NATO may intervene. French troops may man positions on the border with Belarus.

That will free up more Ukrainian troops to man the 600 mile front.

7 posted on 05/29/2024 2:39:08 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
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To: MinorityRepublican
Putin will turn 72 this year.


8 posted on 05/29/2024 2:43:19 PM PDT by Tell It Right (A1st Thessalonians 5:21 -- Put everything to the test, hold fast to that which is true.)
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To: MinorityRepublican

You should work for the Ukrainian Ministry of Propaganda.


9 posted on 05/29/2024 2:45:04 PM PDT by McGruff (Don't underestimate Joe's ability to f*** things up - Barack Obama)
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To: Tell It Right
Vladimir Putin is a neo-Soviet dictator.

All the Soviet dictators did not live a long time. 70 is considered to be old back in the Soviet Union.

10 posted on 05/29/2024 2:50:08 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
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To: McGruff

Yeah


11 posted on 05/29/2024 2:51:04 PM PDT by SaveFerris (Luke 17:28 ... as it was in the Days of Lot; They did Eat, They Drank, They Bought, They Sold ......)
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To: CatOwner

Oh that’s idiotic.


12 posted on 05/29/2024 2:51:53 PM PDT by Williams (Stop Tolerating The Intolerant)
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To: MinorityRepublican

So opposite to the claims that Ukraine is emptying orphanages for soldiers, the truth is they have been too lenient with their draft.


13 posted on 05/29/2024 2:53:16 PM PDT by Williams (Stop Tolerating The Intolerant)
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To: Williams
the truth is they have been too lenient with their draft.

Finally they've lowered the age of the draft to 25.

14 posted on 05/29/2024 2:55:13 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
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To: ConservativeMind

I’m gonna guess a lot are dead killed in the earlier fighting.


15 posted on 05/29/2024 2:57:55 PM PDT by matt04 ( )
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To: Williams; MinorityRepublican
they have been too lenient with their draft.

Is that what you Zeepers call the needless slaughter of nearly 500,000 Ukranian soldiers?

16 posted on 05/29/2024 2:58:36 PM PDT by JonPreston ( ✌ ☮️ )
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To: Williams

Oh that’s idiotic.


17 posted on 05/29/2024 3:05:32 PM PDT by mac_truck (aide toi et dieu t'aidera)
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To: MinorityRepublican; Tell It Right; McGruff
French troops may man positions on the border with Belarus.

Once they're inside the borders of the Ukraine, they're fair game.

And the commanders won't be able to keep the young froggy soldiers off their cellphones.

18 posted on 05/29/2024 3:07:57 PM PDT by kiryandil (FR Democrat Party operatives! Rally in defense of your Colombian cartel stooge Merchan!)
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To: MinorityRepublican

“...to avenge her son who’d been killed fighting the Russians almost a decade before”

I’m reliably told hostilities started with an unprovoked invasion in February, 2022.

Unless she means her son was a nazi killing russkie civilians in the recently ‘conquered territory’ following the 2014 coup, that is.


19 posted on 05/29/2024 3:08:34 PM PDT by TonyinLA (I don't have sufficient information to formulate a reasoned opinion said no lefty ever.)
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To: JonPreston
I'm going to have to add the "age limit" lie to the lie about the number of Ukrainian casualties.

The Ukie casualty lie is the most offensive, but this one about the age is right up there.

I imagine that the Ukie press gangs wipe themselves with the ID cards of the ones they grab.

As usual, the Western Media is looking the other way on this story.

20 posted on 05/29/2024 3:11:07 PM PDT by kiryandil (FR Democrat Party operatives! Rally in defense of your Colombian cartel stooge Merchan!)
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