Ukraine defense minister confident can replenish troops but in need of weapons, equipment from allies

FIRST ON FOX - Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov spoke with Fox News Digital about Ukraine's war efforts as Russia's full-scale invasion enters its fourth year in February 2025, with both sides making very little gains on the battlefield.

As the winter fighting season begins soon, the Ukrainian government needs to step up its efforts to recruit new soldiers, train them and provide the necessary military equipment to win the war.

Even as the war has no end in sight, mobilization is proceeding according to plans laid out by the Ukrainian government.

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Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov looks on during a meeting with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at the Pentagon on Dec. 6, 2023 in Arlington, Virginia. (Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

"Since the adoption of the law on mobilization this spring, we have increased mobilization indicators by 2.5 times. Twelve percent of military personnel now voluntarily join the ranks of the army thanks to a new recruitment system," Umerov told Fox News Digital in an email sent through the Ministry of Defense’s press office due to operational security concerns.

Ukraine passed a mobilization law in April to reform the military recruitment process while the war drags on and battlefield casualties mount.

The aim of the mobilization law, according to the defense minister, is to make the recruitment process more efficient and more transparent.

Umerov said that the positive numbers show that Ukrainians are ready to "defend their land with weapons in their hands."

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A Ukrainian service member rides a tank as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues near the front line town of Vuhledar, Ukraine, on Feb. 22, 2023. (REUTERS/Alex Babenko)

What Ukraine needs, according to the defense minister, is help from their international partners.

"We have enough troops. However, we need support from international partners in weapons and equipment, and we require it fast."

Umerov said Ukraine desperately needs modern Western-made air defense systems and a sufficient supply of ammunition for these systems. Ukraine needs a multi-layered air defense system to protect critical infrastructure and long-range capability to strike airfields and other military facilities deep inside Russia. 

So far, the Biden administration is hesitant to consent to the need for long-range systems for fear of antagonizing Russian President Vladimir Putin and escalating a possible confrontation with Russia.

Ukraine also introduced an online app called Reserve+ that helps streamline the conscription process and makes it easier for those liable to serve to update their personal data. More than 3.4 million Ukrainians updated their conscription data through the app in just a little over two months, according to the defense minister.

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A Ukrainian tank crew takes a break while operating a Soviet-made T-72 tank in the Sumy region, near the border with Russia, on Aug. 12, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by ROMAN PILIPEY/AFP via Getty Images)

Kyiv recently lowered the draft age for men from 27 to 25, which will expand the pool of eligible fighters and help replenish the depleted ranks. Ivana Strader, who focuses on Russia’s psychological operations at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said that Putin's most powerful weapon is information, and he understands that by putting Ukraine on the defensive in this sphere he can accomplish all his security objectives.

"Putin has been launching influence operations to target Ukrainians and to make sure [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy is in an uncomfortable situation with his own population for lowering the age of military service. This is very unpopular in Ukraine, and Putin knows this," Stradner said.

The government still has to come up with creative ways to increase its troop levels in addition to the new draft law. The Ukrainian parliament passed a law that would allow some prisoners who have less than three years left in their sentences and were not convicted of serious or violent crimes to serve in the army if they choose.

The U.K. is also considering sending a small group of military advisers to train new soldiers before heading to the front lines. 

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, right, welcomes Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov to the Pentagon on Dec. 6, 2023 in Arlington, Virginia. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

Orysia Lutsevych, head of the Ukraine Forum at Chatham House, told Fox News Digital that 2024 saw some of the most intense fighting on land with infantry in the Donbas region throughout the whole war and that Ukraine needs to draw more people into the armed forces and prepare them for combat.

Lutsevych agrees with Umerov's assessment of the conflict. The problem for Ukraine’s war prospects, according to Lutsevych, are twofold: equipment and training.

"Ukrainians don't say we don't want to fight. Of course, there is a fear of death, obviously. But the number one concern is will they be equipped to fight," Lutsevych said.

A view shows apartment buildings damaged by a Russian military strike amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the front line city of Vuhledar, in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, on Oct. 10, 2023. (REUTERS/Yevhen Titov)

Lutsevych explained that when the war first broke out, a majority of those who voluntarily signed up to fight were people who already had combat experience from 2014, when Russia first invaded eastern Ukraine and annexed Crimea. These veterans made up the bulk of Ukraine’s fighting force in the early stages of the war. Many of these veterans were killed in action or severely wounded, forcing the Ukrainian government to replenish its forces.

Following this first wave of experienced combat veterans are average civilians with no combat experience and these individuals lack the proper training and necessary equipment needed to carry on repelling further Russian advances. 

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Servicemen of the 24th Mechanised Brigade fire a " Giatsint-S" 152mm self-propelled howitzer toward Russian positions near Chasiv Yar town, in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2024. (Oleg Petrasiuk/Ukrainian 24th Mechanised Brigade via AP)

Russia currently has approximately 550,000 military personnel deployed in Ukraine and is steadily increasing the number of troops involved in combat operations. As 2025 approaches, the war is entering a critical phase and has settled into a war of attrition with both sides enduring significant costs. 

"It's a difficult situation for both parties, but neither side appears prepared to give up," Maria Snegovaya, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Fox News Digital. Except for Ukraine’s Kursk incursion, Snegovaya said that the front lines in the east have not moved much, while Russia has pushed further into the Donbas region.

The battlefield stalemate has not impacted Ukrainians' perceptions of the war or their desire to defend their land.

"For Ukraine, it’s not just losing some territory, it's potentially losing their right to exist altogether, it’s an existential fight for them," Snegovaya said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, left, and President Biden walk to the Oval Office of the White House Sept. 21, 2023 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Ukrainians remain committed to fighting even if there are no significant breakthroughs. The Kyiv International Institute of Sociology conducted a survey in early 2024 showing that despite some waning belief in victory, an overwhelming 89% still believe in victory for Ukraine.

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Official data on Ukrainian battlefield casualties are unreliable, but the U.S. estimates that some 70,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed and between 100,000 and 120,000 wounded. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the goal is to mobilize up to 500,000 additional conscripts for future war efforts. 

Ukrainian officials fear the number will be significantly lower. Defense Minister Umerov said while Ukraine has managed to counter Russia’s initial invasion with its current fighting force, more must be done.

"We believe these changes to mobilization and the support of our international partners will give the Ukrainian military the capacity for greater success against Russian occupation forces," Umerov said.