© Anatolii Stepanov / AFPUkrainian soldiers fire a grenade launcher during the fighting in Donetsk Region, June 17, 2023.
A document, signed by commissar Alexey Privala, was posted on social media, as well as reprinted by the Ukrainian website Strana. Responding to the outlet's inquiry, Privala's office claimed the order was nothing new and that such notices were being posted regularly.
What has changed in the district, however, is the blanket call-up of all draftees. The western Ukrainian city of Ivano-Frankovsk has already enacted the same measure. Their orders, dated June 13, also refer to the mobilization of vehicles and forbid residents from moving without the explicit permission of the draft commissariat.
The Ivano-Frankovsk notice set a ten-day deadline for all men subject to the draft notice to report for service.
The Obolonsky district commissariat has also referred to the same ten-day deadline. Its orders apply not only to the men registered in the district, but even those residing there temporarily, according to Strana.
Ukraine's Chernigov Region reported on Wednesday that it was struggling to meet its mobilization quota. More than 20,000 people have not reported following their summons, regional draft commissar Oleg Goncharuk has admitted.
The expanded mobilization measures come as the long-heralded counteroffensive on the Zaporozhye front fails to dislodge Russian forces after more than two weeks of fighting.
The attack was "not meeting expectations on any front," Western officials told CNN on Thursday, while President Vladimir Zelensky acknowledged on Wednesday that progress had been "slower than desired."
According to Russian officials, Ukraine has suffered up to 13,000 casualties since June 4, and is in the process of regrouping its brigades to try again. National Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev and Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu briefed President Vladimir Putin on Thursday that many Western-supplied vehicles were among the 246 tanks, 152 infantry fighting vehicles, and 443 armored vehicles Ukraine lost during the attempted attacks.
So, are these people hiding? Is it safe to ignore these notices? And if they don't have enough men to fight, do they have enough to go looking for the non- compliant? I certainly understand why they wouldn't want to fight.