Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks to the media in Washington, USA (Photo: UPI).
“We have 880,000 troops,” the leader said in a program broadcast on January 29.
"We have a million-strong army. At the same time, we have 30 million people now, 30 million people working, and maybe even a little more. I can't say the exact number," Mr. Zelensky said.
Mr Zelensky noted that it is not yet known exactly how many citizens have left Ukraine since the outbreak of the conflict.
“We don’t know – 6.5 to 7.5 million – how many people left in the first place,” the Ukrainian leader said.
Also in the interview, President Zelensky expressed his desire for military leaders to pass a law on fair mobilization and digitize the conscription process.
"Discharge is an important part of any call-up plan. Many soldiers have been on the battlefield for long periods of time, in some cases up to 700 days," he said.
President Zelensky also criticized representatives of local military recruitment offices who took to the streets to round up men who failed to report for military service.
"They should not do this. That is why when I prepared this bill, I asked our military and our parliamentarians to stop enforcing the law through street patrols. Today we can solve this problem through digital communication…", the President said.
Previously, in December 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin revealed that the number of Russian troops fighting in Ukraine was 617,000.
That same month, Mr. Zelensky announced that the Ukrainian army consisted of nearly 600,000 soldiers from various branches.
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