Even if Ukraine’s allies deliver all promised weapons, “We don’t have the men to use it”At the end of September, a member of the delegation of Volodymyr Zelensky, was questioned by. Time MagazineDuring the visit of the Ukrainian head of state to Washington.
Since the autumn, the observation has been clear: exhausted and severely depleted, the Ukrainian army needs fresh troops at least as much as ammunition if it is to maintain its position, since the failure of the counter-offensive launched in the summer, there is no longer any question of recovery. . Increasing mobilization by ordinary employees as well as civil society and the political sector has become imperative. But it is also an explosive topic, as evidenced by the delay in authority and the slowness of parliamentary debates on the subject.
Two years after the start of the Russian invasion, the patriotic momentum of the early days, which boosted troop numbers on the Ukrainian side from 260,000 to 700,000, has run out of steam and the army is struggling to recruit.
The extent of military losses, which Volodymyr Zelensky estimated at 31,000 in late February, when New York Times Figures of 70,000 killed and 120,000 wounded were put forward in August, which greatly dampened morale as did the dynamism of the front. Few are willing to hide for months in the trenches, with no other objective than to resist at all costs the attacks of the better-armed Russian army, whose numbers, if not inexhaustible, at least seem vastly superior.
In August, the then defense minister, Oleksii Reznikov, assured that no additional mobilization was necessary and advocated only rationalizing recruitment. But in late summer the shortage became apparent. “This is the reason why the brigades belonging to the Taveria group (Deployed on Eastern Front) From September-October 2023 were not able to continue the offensive and were only able to defend »writes the Center for Eastern Studies (CES) in Warsaw, in a report on the subject.
Disorder and corruption
Added to this shortage is the exhaustion of soldiers deployed for over two years, who, for lack of replacements, stay on the front lines longer and longer. “It is not unusual for a platoon to have only a few soldiers and companies of less than 50 men (less than half their full strength). According to regulations, this should result in their automatic folding backwards. In the current situation at the front, these subunits generally cannot provide relief. Commanders are thus forced to serve their subordinates for long hours, reducing the time available for sleep, meals and basic hygiene.CES Report.
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