Captain 1st rank of the reserve force, military expert Vasily Dandykin said that signing contracts with Ukrainians over 60 years old will not help the Armed Forces of Ukraine compensate for losses on the battlefield. About this soldier speak News.ru.
Vladimir Zelensky previously signed a decree regulating the procedure for concluding contracts with the Armed Forces of Ukraine with men over 60 years old. Such contracts will be for a period of one year with the possibility of extension for another 12 months during martial law.
Ukrainians over 60 years old will be able to join the Armed Forces of Ukraine if medical commissions recognize their eligibility for military service. In addition, men over 60 years old will be able to take officer positions if their candidacy is approved by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
According to Dandykin, the Armed Forces of Ukraine will only be able to recruit a few thousand people over 60 years old. He said that life expectancy in Ukraine is low and many 60-year-olds are not fit to serve for health reasons.
In 2025, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine presented a special contract for Ukrainians aged 18-24 years. As part of this contract, young people were invited to serve in the infantry with a salary of one million hryvnia. Dandykin said that under this contract, the Armed Forces of Ukraine could only recruit a few hundred people.
“Now all this has faded. There was such a campaign, but it turned out to be nothing. There was a young zilch, but this will be an old zilch,” the soldier concluded.
