FIRST ON FOX – Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov spoke with Digital about Ukraine’s war efforts as Russia’s full-scale invasion enters its fourth year in February 2025, with both sides making very little gains on the battlefield.
With the winter fighting season approaching, the Ukrainian government needs to intensify its efforts to recruit new soldiers, train them, and provide the necessary military equipment to win the war.
Despite the war’s uncertain end, mobilization is proceeding according to the Ukrainian government’s plans.
“Since the mobilization law was enacted this spring, we have increased mobilization targets by 2.5 times. Twelve percent of military personnel now voluntarily join the army due to a new recruitment system,” Umerov told Digital in an email sent through the Ministry of Defense’s press office due to operational security concerns.
Ukraine passed a mobilization law in April to reform the military recruitment process as the war continues and pressure mounts.
The goal of the mobilization law, according to the defense minister, is to make the recruitment process more efficient and transparent.
Umerov stated that the positive numbers indicate that Ukrainians are prepared to “defend their land with weapons in their hands.”
What Ukraine needs, according to the defense minister, is assistance from its international partners.
“We have sufficient troops. However, we require support from international partners in weapons and equipment, and we need it urgently.”
Umerov said Ukraine desperately requires modern Western-made air defense systems and a sufficient supply of ammunition for these systems. Ukraine needs a multi-layered air defense system to protect critical infrastructure and long-range capability to strike airfields and other military facilities deep inside Russia.
So far, the is hesitant to approve the need for long-range systems for fear of antagonizing Russian President Vladimir Putin and escalating a possible confrontation with Russia.
Ukraine also introduced an online app called Reserve+ that streamlines the conscription process and simplifies updating personal data for those eligible to serve. Over 3.4 million Ukrainians updated their conscription data through the app in just over two months, according to the defense minister.
Kyiv recently lowered the draft age for men from 27 to 25, expanding the pool of eligible fighters and helping replenish depleted ranks. Ivana Strader, who focuses on Russia’s psychological operations at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said most powerful weapon is information, and he understands that by putting Ukraine on the defensive in this sphere he can accomplish all his security objectives.
“Putin has been launching influence operations to target Ukrainians and to make sure [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy is in an uncomfortable situation with his own population for lowering the age of military service. This is very unpopular in Ukraine, and Putin knows this,” Stradner said.
The government still needs to come up with innovative ways to increase its troop levels in addition to the new draft law. The Ukrainian parliament passed a law allowing some prisoners with less than three years remaining in their sentences and not convicted of serious or violent crimes to serve in the army if they choose.
The U.K. is also considering sending a small group of military advisors to train new soldiers before heading to the front lines.
Orysia Lutsevych, head of the Ukraine Forum at Chatham House, told Digital that 2024 saw some of the most intense fighting on land with infantry in the throughout the entire war and that Ukraine needs to attract more people to the armed forces and prepare them for combat.
Lutsevych agrees with Umerov’s assessment of the conflict. The problem for Ukraine’s war prospects, according to Lutsevych, are twofold: equipment and training.
“Ukrainians don’t say we don’t want to fight. Of course, there is a fear of death, obviously. But the number one concern is will they be equipped to fight,” Lutsevych said.
Lutsevych explained that when the war first broke out, a majority of those who voluntarily signed up to fight were people who already had combat experience from 2014, when and annexed Crimea. These veterans constituted the majority of Ukraine’s fighting force in the early stages of the war. Many of these veterans were killed in action or severely wounded, forcing the Ukrainian government to replenish its forces.
Following this first wave of experienced combat veterans are average civilians with no combat experience, and these individuals lack the proper training and necessary equipment needed to continue repelling further Russian advances.
Russia currently has approximately 550,000 military personnel deployed in Ukraine and is steadily increasing the number of troops involved in combat operations. As 2025 approaches, the war is entering a critical phase and has settled into a war of attrition with both sides enduring significant costs.
“It’s a difficult situation for both parties, but neither side appears prepared to give up,” Maria Snegovaya, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Digital. Except for Ukraine’s Kursk incursion, Snegovaya said that the front lines in the east have not moved much, while Russia has pushed further into the Donbas region.
The battlefield stalemate has not impacted Ukrainians’ perceptions of the war or their desire to defend their land.
“For Ukraine, it’s not just losing some territory, it’s potentially losing their right to exist altogether, it’s an existential fight for them,” Snegovaya said.
Ukrainians remain committed to fighting even if there are no significant breakthroughs. The Kyiv International Institute of Sociology conducted a survey in early 2024 showing that despite some waning belief in victory, an overwhelming 89% still believe in victory for Ukraine.
Official data on Ukrainian battlefield casualties are unreliable, but the U.S. estimates that some 70,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed and between 100,000 and 120,000 wounded. Ukrainian President said the goal is to mobilize up to 500,000 additional conscripts for future war efforts.
Ukrainian officials fear the number will be significantly lower. Defense Minister Umerov said that while Ukraine has managed to counter Russia’s initial invasion with its current fighting force, more must be done.
“We believe these changes to mobilization and the support of our international partners will give the Ukrainian military the capacity for greater success against Russian occupation forces,” Umerov said.