If half of Army quits tomorrow, Putin “will kill us all”

The head of the Ukrainian state said this in an interview with Italian journalist Cecilia Sala for the Il Foglio newspaper, Ukrinform reports.

“If tomorrow half of the Army simply went home, then it would be necessary to surrender on day 1. If tomorrow half of our (soldiers – ed.) return home, Putin will kill us all,” Zelensky stressed.

He recalled that in 2022, the Russian invaders killed everyone who resisted the occupation of small towns and villages.

“In all the small towns and villages through which they passed, if someone resisted, what happened? They destroyed everything, they killed people,” the president recalled.

He emphasized that martial law involves “mobilizing people and absolutely all resources that are available in the country.”

“This, unfortunately, is the challenge of this war, and that’s why it must be accelerated as much as possible to end it – to force Russia to end this war,” the head of state noted. He added that there is war fatigue among Ukrainians, but in this matter it is necessary to look at the legislation.

The president recalled that all men aged 25 and over are subject to military draft.

 “Mobilization continues, a fairly large number of people of this age are being mobilized. They have rotations, vacations, but, of course, this is not enough. Of course, we need to work on the quality of all this,” Zelensky noted.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, on April 11, 2024, the Verkhovna Rada adopted a bill on mobilization. On April 16, the president signed the bill into law.

The law says male citizens aged 25 to 60 shall be subject to mobilization. After the publication of the law, all those liable for military service had 60 days to update their current address of residence, contact information, and other military registration data. Citizens are urged to do this at their local draft offices, administrative service centers, or via an application.