Ukraine’s Parliament Refuses Crackdown On Conscription Dodgers
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
KYIV/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Ukraine’s embattled president suffered a domestic political defeat Friday as parliament refused to consider a conscription bill that proposes a crackdown on draft dodgers.
Legislators criticized the proposed punishment measures included in the bill as unconstitutional.
It comes as Kyiv desperately needs more forces after suffering massive causalities, including overnight, when two Russian missiles reportedly struck a hotel in Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, injuring 11 people.
A well-informed U.S. security official told Worthy News there was “massive corruption often involving thousands of dollars” paid by wealthy Ukrainians to avoid the draft.
He noted that border officials at the Ukrainian-Hungarian frontier were among those receiving much of that money.
The well-informed diplomat with ties to the White House spoke on condition of anonymity as he wasn’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
MANY MOBILIZED
Ukraine’s military wants to mobilize up to half a million extra people, Zelensky revealed, as the war with Russia nears a two-year mark.
He explained that his commanders were seeking “450,000-500,000 individuals”, admitting this was a “sensitive” and costly issue.
His remarks followed his financial setbacks in the United States and the European Union. Recently, Republicans in the U.S. Congress blocked a $60 billion military package for Ukraine.
The U.S. setback was followed by Hungary’s blocking of the EU’s roughly $55 billion financial aid deal. Hungary is seen as one of Russia’s closest allies within the EU.
However, there was some excellent news for Zelenskyy as Britain’s prime minister vowed Friday that Ukraine “will never be alone” as he announced a nearly $3.2 billion military aid package to Ukraine over the coming year.
Rishi Sunak said during a surprise visit to Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, that the support was vital because if Russian President Vladimir Putin “wins in Ukraine, he will not stop there.”
MEETING COUNTERPART
And in remarks monitored by Worthy News on Friday, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said he would meet his Ukrainian counterpart Dmitro Kuleba this month to help ease tensions.
Their January 29 talks in the Ukrainian town of Uzhhorod near Hungary would focus on a possible face-to-face meeting between the Hungarian prime minister and Ukrainian president, Szijjártó added.
The gathering “would make sense only if it was well-prepared,” the minister stressed.
Hungary has expressed concerns about the rising death toll in neighboring Ukraine, including among those ethnic Hungarians living there who are forced to serve in the army.
Hundreds of thousands of Russian and Ukrainian troops are believed to have been killed and injured in Europe’s deadliest armed conflict in decades.
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