WASHINGTON, September 17. /TASS/. The Ukrainian government’s actions show that Vladimir Zelensky and his advisers are losing a grip on reality, according to an article published by US journal Foreign Policy.
"In the course of the last month, Ukraine’s government pushed two significant measures related to one of its most glaring weaknesses: its strained armed forces," reads an article by Berlin-based journalist Paul Hockenos. "Yet the moves landed awkwardly in Ukraine and have some observers wondering whether President Vladimir Zelensky, and his circle of advisors, is adequately in touch with reality outside the corridors of power in Kiev."
Among the above-mentioned measures the author named "proposed draconian sentences for insubordination in the military, namely harsher criminal liability for absence without leave and desertion," which triggered protests in the country. Another initiative is the to permit men aged between 18 and 22 to leave the country while the martial law is in place.
"The fear of many Ukrainians is that young men between 18 and 22 will now flee in large numbers, leaving the armed forces come 2027 with too few new recruits - and Ukraine, a country with severe demographic deficiencies, with too few people when the war ends," the article says.
