Ukraine announces new mobilisation drive, 160 000 people to be drafted

Another 160 000 people are to be recruited into the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which will bring the strength of the force to 85%, Oleksandr Lytvynenko, Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council, told a meeting of the Ukrainian Parliament on Tuesday, the 29th of October, as Russia continues to advance in the eastern Donetsk region and on Tuesday announced that it has fully captured Selydove, reports The Kyiv Independent and the British broadcaster BBC.
The announcement comes amid reports that several thousand North Korean soldiers have been deployed in Russia.
“It is planned to call up more than 160 000 people,” Oleksandr Lytvynenko told parliament on Tuesday, with the conscription taking place over a three-month period.
According to Litvinenko, 1 000 050 Ukrainian citizens have so far been conscripted into the army since martial law began.
A recently adopted Ukrainian law requires men aged between 25 and 60 to register in a database for potential conscription, which has prompted some men to avoid registering and go into hiding to avoid conscription.
According to the Ministry of Defence, 4 690 496 men of military age updated their data between the 18th of May and the 17th of July deadline, and by mid-August nearly one million were eligible for a military exemption. The Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers announced that workers in “strategically important economic sectors” will be able to extend their exemption from military conscription.
Moscow has announced that it now controls all of Selydove in the Donetsk region, as well as surrounding villages, and is moving towards the main transport hub of Pokrovsk, just 18km away.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon estimates that some 10 000 North Korean troops are training in eastern Russia, and on Tuesday it announced that North Korean troops had been sent to Kursk, where thousands more are on their way.
South Korea believes that 11 000 North Korean troops are currently deployed throughout Russia, including 3 000 in the west, some of them reportedly disguised in Russian uniforms as they take part in exercises in various locations.