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Ukraine's Western allies are not imposing new sanctions on Russia in part because of Kyiv's refusal to lower the mobilization age to 18, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with Valasz Online published on June 10. With the start of thefull-scale invasion, Ukraine updated its mobilization legislation and lowered the minimum age for compulsory military service from 27 to 25. Yet, some partners, includingthe U.S., still criticize Kyiv for setting the age threshold too high. "I do not believe that we should mobilize people from the age of 18, as the leaders of other countries have thought,"Zelensky said. "However,...

Russian president Vladimir Putin was expected to give a speech at 6pm London time from Moscow potentially announcing the official declaration of war in Ukraine to defend Russian-occupied territories, but kept the world waiting on Tuesday night. Russian news channel that announced the speech deleted their posts around two hours after the Russian leader was set to begin what would have been his first international announcement since the country’s invasion of Ukraine on February 25. It appeared as though the Russian leader had cancelled his speech, pushing it back to Wednesday, according to a Telegram account run by political analyst...

BALTIMORE (AP) _ Carrying puppets, signs and roses, hundreds accompanied a pickup truck carrying the coffin of peace activist Philip Berrigan as it wound its way Monday through the rough neighborhood where he once served as a priest. Family members stood in the back of the truck along with the plain wooden coffin, hand-painted with red roses, as bagpipers played ``Amazing Grace'' while the procession marched to the funeral at St. Peter Claver Catholic Church in west Baltimore. ``He was bigger than life _ extremely human and heroic and committed,'' said actor Martin Sheen, who marched in the funeral...

LONDON — Lines at neighboring borders and protests are just some of the scenes in Russia following President Vladimir Putin’s call for partial military mobilization. Last week, Putin ordered up to 300,000 Russians to serve in the invasion of Ukraine that began in February. Since then, thousands of citizens have fled the country to bordering nations, including Georgia and Mongolia. A satellite image of the Russia-Georgia border taken on Tuesday shows a multitude of cars and people waiting at the crossing. According to Russian state news outlet Tass, more than 5,000 cars had created the traffic jam, which was up...

Last fall, Egor Redin was in hiding at a Baptist church in Tajikistan, two thousand miles from home. The pastor advised him not to leave the building because the secret police might be watching. Redin had hoped to apply for asylum in Tajikistan but was warned not to. If Tajik authorities found out he was Baptist, he would likely be deported back to Russia, where he would face criminal prosecution for protesting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. As a father of two little girls aged two and four who was also a pacifist (historically Russian Baptists have refused to serve in...

The apparent silver lining: Those who failed to register could be charged with felonies and deported. The Oversight Project sent a Freedom of Information request earlier this year to the U.S. Selective Service System seeking data on illegal aliens who failed to register for the draft. Now with the responses in, it appears that the watchdog group's hypothesis — both that the SSS during former President Joe Biden's tenure made little effort to ensure that male illegal aliens ages 18-26 were registered for the draft, as required by law, and that multitudes of military-age male illegal aliens likely slipped through...

The son of Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich admitted to a prank call made to Shedeur Sanders during the NFL draft and apologized in an Instagram post Sunday. The NFL is looking into the situation, specifically how Sanders' private number leaked, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter. The Falcons said in a statement Sunday that 21-year-old Jax Ulbrich wrote down the number from his father's open iPad while visiting his parents' home "to later conduct a prank call." As Sanders continued to wait for his name to be called on Day 2 of the draft Friday, a video surfaced on...

After NFL quarterback prospect Shedeur Sanders was not selected in the first round of the NFL Draft Thursday, many critics debated why on social media. Former Democratic U.S. Rep. Jamaal Bowman joined the debate Friday, suggesting the reason Sanders slid was because "America continues to fear strong black men." Bowman also compared the 23-year-old quarterback to former NFL star Eli Manning, who refused to play for the San Diego Chargers after being selected with the No. 1 pick in 2004. "The NFL doesn’t like [Shedeur]Sanders because he wears gold chains and talks like a rapper. They don’t care that he’s...

The World Health Organization (W.H.O.) announced on Wednesday that its negotiators had completed a final draft of a proposed international legal document to govern pandemic response, to be voted on at the World Health Assembly in May. Negotiations on drafting the pandemic agreement took years of often heated debate as W.H.O. negotiators pressured countries to agree to provisions to share medical technology with poor countries at discounted prices and accept international authority on public health policies. The drafters have not yet apparently agreed on what kind of international legal document the agreement will be — a covenant, treaty, or other...

A giant warehouse near St Petersburg has gone up in smoke after the Russian workers there set the entire facility ablaze. The action was reportedly taken after Russian police raided the Wildberries warehouse to find people to conscript to fight the war in Ukraine. According to Russian media sources the incident is currently under investigation by the state prosecutor's office. According to APA's Russian bureau, there is currently no available information regarding the number of casualties or injuries caused by the fire. The fire took hold of the 50 thousand square metre site and required hundreds of firefighters to bring...

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Jan. 15 that Ukraine's military now comprises 880,000 soldiers, tasked with defending the entire country against 600,000 Russian troops concentrated in specific areas. Speaking at a joint press conference with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Warsaw, Zelensky said that Russia's localized troop concentration creates a numerical advantage. "Russian troops are concentrated in several areas, so in some areas, they have a quantitative advantage," he said. Ukraine has been struggling with a manpower shortage, especially in the infantry, while Russia has intensified its offensive in Donetsk Oblast since the summer of 2024. Earlier on Jan....

Russia has reportedly warned that those who protest Vladimir Putin's decision to call up reservists to fight in Ukraine will be drafted into the military. Protests are planned to take place across the country on Wednesday evening, opposing Putin's decree to partially mobilize Russia's armed forces. Russian media outlets have warned that anyone taking part in "illegal rallies" will be subject to military conscription, according to Samuel Ramani, an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies. Top Kremlin propagandist Vladimir Solovyov shared a post on Telegram outlining the measures.

Lt. General William G. Boykin FRC Action 801 G Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20001 Tel: 1-877/372-2808 Dear Robert, I wanted to share some good news regarding the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), an important piece of legislation that provides funding and sets policies for the U.S. Department of Defense. First, the effort to "Draft our Daughters" has been thwarted for another year! Language requiring women to register with the Selective Service (which would make them eligible for any future military drafts) has been removed from this year's NDAA. In addition, this year's NDAA includes a provision that prohibits taxpayer...

House of Representatives passed a measure on Friday automatically registering men aged 18 to 26 for selective service. It was part of the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which sets out the U.S. government’s military and national security priorities over the next fiscal year. This year's NDAA authorizes $895.2 billion in military spending, a $9 billion increase from fiscal 2024. While it hasn’t been invoked in over half a century, it’s mandatory for all male U.S. citizens to register for the selective service, also known as the military draft, when they turn 18. Failure to register is classified as...

"I think the draft in the future scenario would look less like it did in Vietnam and more like it did during the world wars," Taren Sylvester said.

Our radicalized, leftist media is avoiding reporting on how close we may be to World War III, which could very well be nuclear. The Biden/Harris administration provoked the war that rages on in Ukraine, the continuation of the Obama coup of 2014. Peace could have been negotiated before the current battles began, but no, our ever-powerful military-industrial complex wanted war. It is how they all get fabulously wealthy. Biden knew that threatening Putin with admitting Ukraine into NATO would be a line the Russian leader would see as a bridge too far. But Biden seemingly had no intention of actually...

Coverage of the wars in Ukraine and Gaza is mostly dominated by talk of weapons. Reporters and analysts focus on suicide drones, on shell deficits, on targeting algorithms. But for all the attention devoted to modern weapons and munitions, both conflicts are proving that modern war still comes down to people.... ... Before Covid, fewer than 3 in 10 Americans in the prime recruiting demographic — ages 17 to 24 — were eligible to serve in uniform. Those numbers have shrunk further since the pandemic began. Only 23 percent of young Americans are qualified to enlist without a waiver.... In...

Conscription — a practice most Americans believe should be relegated to the dustbin of history — has returned as an uncomfortable topic of conversation among U.S. allies and adversaries alike. This has generated concern and even conspiracy theories among American voters. But a candid discussion would be healthier. The fact is, if the United States hopes to deter or defeat a Chinese attack on Taiwan, it should be prepared to effectively implement a draft. To be clear, this is a solution of last resort, but one that may be necessary. Right now, U.S. mobilization has not been tested in decades....

In a national poll last month Americans were asked if they believed a new civil war was likely to happen within their lifetime. The establishment media was shocked to report that 47% of the population said yes. Those of us in the liberty media were not so surprised; I believe according to the evidence that we were already a short step away from civil war in 2021-2022. There were A LOT of guys (millions) getting ready for the possibility of vaccine passport enforcement. Gun ownership in the US hit record highs during that time period and conservative/patriot groups saw a...

The nation lacks the processes and systems to conduct a military draft in response to a near-peer conflict, according to a new report by a think tank based in Washington, D.C. The United States ended conscription in 1973, relying since on the all-volunteer force. But all U.S. males ages 18 to 25 are still required to register with the Selective Service System in case a draft is ever needed again. "To be clear, this report is not advocating for implementation of a draft," states the Center for a New American Security report, which was released June 18. "Rather, it is...