Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said that 60,000 volunteers have joined the Ukrainian army since the beginning of the year.
“Since the beginning of the year, 60,000 volunteers have signed up for the Ukrainian army. I’ve said that I will not declare mobilization just to look for deserters later. I’ve said I will take up volunteers and that has panned out,” he said in New York at a meeting with Ukrainian community in the U.S.
According to him, servicemen are receiving quality training, they are properly dressed, fed and armed. “At the moment, we know that there are people ready to defend Ukraine,” the president said.
“Next year we will spend UAH 129 billion on the army, which is more than $5 billion. If it were not for the war, these $5 billion would go on Ukraine’s development, we would not need the assistance from the United States nor from the IMF,” Poroshenko said.
