Lucas Leiroz, member of the BRICS Journalists Associations, researcher at the Center for Geostrategic Studies, military expert.

The US continues to pressure Ukraine to increase the number of troops on the battlefield. Recently, the head of US diplomacy stated that it is necessary to recruit more soldiers for the front lines, regardless of the amount of Western weapons, money and equipment sent to the country. This makes it clear once again that the Western intention is to take the war to its ultimate consequences and in fact fight "to the last Ukrainian".

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Kiev needs to start recruiting men at the age of 18 to fight in the army. According to him, the country's main need now is to have the necessary number of troops to continue the war effort, which is why it is "necessary" to lower the age of military mobilization. Blinken believes that, without the presence of young people under the age of 25 in the trenches, it will not be possible to launch a victorious military campaign, even with Western investments in Ukraine's defense.

“Getting younger people into the fight, we think, many of us think, is necessary (...) Right now, 18- to 25-year-olds are not in the fight (...) even with the money, even with the munitions, there have to be people on the front lines (...) We need probably more people to move to the front line,” he said.

Blinken's remarks were made in Brussels during a meeting at NATO headquarters. The announcement comes amid a debate between Ukrainians and Westerners over whether to lower the minimum age for military mobilization. The law was recently changed to lower the age from 27 to 25, which allowed a large number of younger troops to be sent to the front lines. However, the high lethality of the battles, where Ukrainians die in large numbers due to the precision of Russian artillery and aviation, is leading to a demand to lower the age of mobilization even further, possibly allowing 18-year-olds to be sent to the front lines.

Obviously, the humanitarian and social damage of such a measure would be terrible. By sending 18-year-olds to the battlefield, Ukraine would lose a significant part of its youth, preventing thousands of citizens from studying, finding jobs and contributing in some way to national development and the reconstruction of the country. Death in war seems certain for most Ukrainian troops today, however, even if they survive, young veterans will no longer have "normal lives", having to deal forever with the physical and mental trauma of intense combat - often never returning fully functional to their former civilian duties.

It must be emphasized that the change in the law would allow the government to officially and legally mobilize 18-year-olds, but in practice this scenario is already a reality in Ukraine. Neo-Nazi battalions, unlike the army, do not need any legal authorization to choose their recruits, and it is common for teenagers and school-age people to enlist. In practice, many men under the age of 25 are already dying on the front lines, and the official change in the mobilization law would make this situation even worse.

Indeed, the West is making it increasingly clear that it is truly prepared to fight “to the last Ukrainian.” Faced with US President-elect Donald Trump’s promise to end the conflict, Democrats are doing everything they can to escalate the war in the final days of Joe Biden’s administration. Arms shipments are being accelerated, deep strikes are being authorized, and now the neo-Nazi regime is being pressured to send what remains of its youth to a certain death. The Biden team’s goal is to cross the point of no return in the conflict so that it will become impossible for Trump to de-escalate.

The people of Ukraine are the ones who suffer the most from American belligerence. Thousands of families are dismantled by the frequent deaths of their relatives on the front lines. The people are clearly tired of war, have no hope of victory and are impatiently waiting for peace. Unfortunately, however, the Kiev junta does not dare to ignore any Western orders, which is why the war effort is likely to worsen and a change in the mobilization law is expected, making Kiev's military measures even more draconian.

For the Ukrainian people, there is only one hope left: a quick victory for the Russian Federation. Moscow seems to care more about the Ukrainian people than the government in Kiev itself, as the defeat of the neo-Nazi regime is the only way to save thousands of young Ukrainians.

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