Human resources on the brink: Israeli officer names the main threat to Ukraine
30 December 17:22
РОЗБІР ВІД 
Conflicts between military personnel of territorial recruitment centers and civilians are increasingly becoming a cause for public debate, manipulation and disinformation. Recent high-profile events, such as the death of a military serviceman at a recruiting center in Lviv and the death of a man at a recruiting center in Odesa region, have only exacerbated the problem of trust in the mobilization process.
In Lviv, a CCC soldier, Yuriy Bondarenko, was fatally wounded during an attempt to check his documents. The incident caused a significant public outcry and a wave of comments on social media. Is the violence on the part of the CCC really a mass phenomenon or is it the result of information attacks? Who is inciting hatred of mobilization and why? And most importantly, how to restore people’s motivation to defend the state when human resources are depleted?
Kyrylo Budanov, Chief of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, said that cases of use of force by employees of territorial recruitment centers against citizens are rare and amount to less than 1%.
“Our airwaves are full of footage of people being allegedly dragged or beaten by recruitment center employees, which gives the impression of mobilization failure. In fact, these are isolated cases,” Budanov noted.
He also compared the situation with Russia, where, according to him, television shows only staged stories with “brave soldiers,” often with the participation of actors, silencing real problems and losses.
The problem is also confirmed by a recent study by the Institute of Mass Information conducted in 10 regions of Ukraine. The analysts concluded that the topic of mobilization and discrediting the CCC are among the key ones in Russian fakes and manipulations.
About 60% of posts in the most popular Ukrainian anonymous telegram channels contain negative or aggressive messages about territorial recruitment and mobilization centers. This is evidenced by the results of a study by the Institute of Mass Information (IMI) conducted between December 23, 2024 and January 5, 2025.
The largest number of such posts was recorded in the telegram channels “I.SHO? | News” (1.06 million subscribers) and “All-Seeing Eye: Ukraine | News” (1.11 million subscribers).
Exhaustion of resources and loss of trust: an IDF officer on the challenges of mobilization in Ukraine
However, the real problems of mobilization should not be dismissed either. In an exclusive commentary for "Komersant Ukrainian", reserve officer of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) Grigory Tamar said that the key internal problem of Ukraine in the war with Russia is the issue of mobilization and exhaustion of human resources.
According to him, it is not only about objective reasons – a protracted and extremely bloody war that leads to large-scale human losses – but also about serious subjective mistakes in the interaction between the state and society.
“Ukraine’s main problem in the war with Russia today is the difficulty in mobilizing new soldiers. The problem of mobilization resources. Objectively, this is a protracted, bloody war with heavy losses. But there is also a subjective factor: the government and society have failed to develop effective ways of cooperation with the people that would make people want to go to defend their country,” noted Tamar.
He emphasized that at the beginning of the full-scale war, Ukraine experienced an unprecedented surge of voluntary military patriotism. However, in his opinion, this resource has not been preserved and multiplied.
“This incredible military patriotism that existed at the beginning of the war, unfortunately, the authorities failed to nurture it, to grow it like the most valuable fruit. On the contrary, they simply parasitized on it to varying degrees. A very noble and historic message was used instead of systematically supporting it,” the Israeli officer emphasized.
Hryhoriy Tamar admits that there are no universal recipes, and that mechanical copying of the Israeli model of mobilization is impossible for Ukraine.
“I understand that there can be no mirror image of the Israeli experience – we have different countries and different wars. But we need to think about how to do it right. We need tools, methods, and solutions that will restore trust and motivation,” Tamar said.
According to Tamar, without rethinking the state policy in the field of mobilization and without an honest dialogue with society, even the most modern weapons will not be able to compensate for the lack of human resources at the front.
Thus, mobilization in Ukraine is at a critical intersection of war, human resource depletion, and information manipulation. Even isolated violations or tragedies against the backdrop of a lack of trust and an aggressive media environment multiply in the public consciousness, undermining people’s willingness to participate in the defense of the state. The only way out of this crisis is through honest and systematic communication, transparent rules, and the restoration of partnership between the government and society, without which no army, even the strongest, can hold the front.
