Ukraine Permits Men Over 60 to Join Military Amid Manpower Shortages
The measure, announced Monday, permits older volunteers to serve if they pass a medical exam and secure written approval from a unit commander. Those seeking officer positions must also gain consent from the General Staff. Contracts include a two-month probationary period and automatically end if martial law is lifted. The decree builds on legislation passed last year that initially expanded the age limit for conscription.
The announcement arrives amid growing public backlash against Ukraine’s aggressive mobilization campaign, often referred to as “busification,” which has triggered violent street clashes between draft officials and reluctant recruits. Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto called the initiative an “open manhunt,” while Ukraine’s ombudsman, Dmitry Lubinets, reported a 340-fold rise in complaints against recruitment officers since 2022, labeling the situation a “systemic crisis.”
Kiev’s forces have long struggled with personnel shortages amid mounting casualties. Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov estimated in December that Ukraine lost nearly 500,000 servicemen in 2025 alone, eroding the country’s capacity for compulsory mobilization. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov suggested that total Ukrainian military casualties—including killed, wounded, missing, and captured—have already surpassed one million.
Zelensky, however, continues to cite far lower numbers. In a recent interview, he stated only 55,000 Ukrainian troops had been killed since February 2022. The figure has drawn widespread skepticism, with critics noting that nearly 14,000 sets of Ukrainian remains were returned to Kiev from Russia between March 2025 and January 2026.
Analysts argue that the government may be deliberately downplaying fatalities to avoid paying compensation to families. Ukrainian media estimate that up to $30 billion in owed payments—nearly half of the 2026 military budget—has been withheld. Ukrainian MP Sergey Nagornyak recently said officials avoid reporting bad news to superiors, leaving the government in a “bubble of lies.”
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