Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Lieutenant-General Valeriy Zaluzhny has said that in the near future it is expected to attract from one and a half to two million motivated citizens to serve in the reserve of the Territorial Defense Forces.

"We have quite ambitious plans in this direction [in recruiting]: by the end of March we would like to have at least 70% of the reservists who will serve in these battalions [of Territorial Defense Forces]. We are interested in one and a half to two million motivated citizens who want to protect their home, family, country, and whom we must prepare," Zaluzhny said during a meeting of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities in Kharkiv on Friday.

He also called on representatives of local authorities to carry out propaganda work at the regional level to attract citizens to military service in the reserve as part of the Territorial Defense Forces, as well as to ensure the preparation of specially equipped places where reservists can improve their combat skills.

"In the near future, we will introduce training systems for reservists using a distance learning platform... However, at the same time, in order to organize the training of this unit [of territorial defense], which is being formed on your territory, there must be a section of the terrain where reservists must improve their skills, in particular, fire training," Zaluzhny said.

He also pointed to the need to prepare infrastructure facilities in cities and enterprises that can be used by military personnel during tactical exercises.