Ukraine lowers age of conscription

Ukrainian state media reported that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a law Tuesday lowering the age of compulsory military service from 27 to 25. Before the passage of the law, the government could not conscript individuals into the military until they had reached the age of 27. The new law means the government can now conscript individuals as young as 25.

Why is this happening? In a statement Wednesday, Zelenskyy said Russia was also conscripting troops to fight against Ukraine. “We must win this war,” he said.

The action also comes amid additional efforts to strengthen Ukraine’s military. Zelenskyy said on Wednesday he had signed an agreement with Finland to increase security cooperation between the two countries. Zelenskyy installed a new top commander of Ukraine’s armed forces earlier this year.

Dig deeper: Listen to Mary Reichard’s conversation with William Inboden on The World and Everything in It podcast about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s failure to respond to U.S. warnings of a terrorist attack in his country.