A Ukrainian official said Tuesday that American politicians are pressuring Ukraine to lower the minimum age of conscription from 25 to 18 to make more young men available for combat.

Ukraine is now enforcing a new mobilization law which is being called 'divisive' among many Ukrainian citizens and some political leaders. The law requires men ages 18-60 to carry their military paperwork at all times to be presented to authorities on demand. It lowers the minimum draft age from 27 to 25 (Ukraine has a demographic shortage of men ages 18-25). And, all military age Ukrainian men abroad must come back to Ukraine to renew their passports, including refugees driven from their homes in the early days of the war.

Approximately 650,000 Ukrainian men aged 18-60 have left Ukraine for Europe since the start of Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, BBC Ukraine reported on Nov. 24.

Irish member of the European Parliament Clare Daly recently excoriated her parliamentary colleagues for pushing for the conflict in Ukraine to continue with no effort at negotiation. An entire generation of Ukrainian men are being lost, she pleaded, noting that “recruits” are now being violently seized off the streets.