The number of soldiers in Ukraine’s armed forces has risen to the maximum stipulated by law, or 250,000, head of the armed forces personnel department, deputy head of the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces Artur Artemenko has said.
“As of today, in accordance with law, the maximum number of troops is 250,000. This is a grounded figure. As in any army, the more troops, the better, but we cannot break the law because we are at the limit,” Artemenko said at a briefing in Kyiv on Oct. 3.
Artemenko said troop levels would balance out as soldiers are discharged, replaced by new recruits.
As earlier reported, Ukraine’s Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak on Sept. 19 signed order No. 484 “On the discharge of drafted soldiers to the reserves in October-December 2017.”
On Sept. 20, Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers approved the number of Ukrainian citizens eligible to be drafted to active military service in October-November: 10,460. The Cabinet allotted Hr 34.4 million for this purpose.
Since 2017 Ukraine’s Armed Forces has signed 26,000 contracts with servicepersons.
