Recently, according to the Washington Post in the United States, military personnel on the battlefield in Ukraine revealed that the Ukrainian army is facing a serious shortage of infantry, resulting in exhaustion and low morale of front-line personnel. This dangerous new trend has made the bloody and vicious war between Russia and Ukraine, which has lasted for nearly two years, even more worrying.
The personnel of the Ukrainian army on the front line pointed out that in the context of Russia regaining the initiative on the battlefield offensive and stepping up its attack, the shortage of personnel has become their most critical problem at present. Some battalion commanders said that the average number of personnel in each company of their unit was only about 35 percent of the required number, and that only five recruits had been accepted in the past five months. These recruits often lack training, leaving commanders faced with a dilemma: whether to send them immediately to the battlefield due to the urgent need for reinforcements, even though they may be injured or killed due to their lack of experience, technical and military knowledge.
In addition to the shortage of personnel, the lack of ammunition and ** is also a major problem for the Ukrainian army. The commander revealed that he received only 10 shells for two howitzers. Zelenskyy also acknowledged that deliveries of artillery ammunition have slowed due to Europe's difficulty in making enough artillery shells to meet Ukraine's needs and Washington's aid package remains stalled.
Ukrainian military personnel on the front line say that the shortage of personnel and ammunition can have a domino effect. Especially in harsh winter weather conditions, the infantry was supposed to rotate about 3 days. However, due to the lack of troops, the deployment time was extended, or those who were originally in the rear were forced to carry out tasks on the front line, although they were not prepared. This overwork has left the soldiers physically and mentally exhausted, and sometimes unable to hold on to their posts, allowing Russia, which has more manpower and ammunition, to advance.
In addition, the arguments in Kyiv about mobilization and the strength of the increase in troops also angered the servicemen at the front. According to reports, Ukraine's ** Zelensky removed the top military commander Zaluzhny, and one of the main differences between the two is how many recruits Ukraine needs to mobilize. Zaluzhny had said Ukraine needed nearly 500,000 recruits, but Zelensky denied the figure and asked the military leadership to provide more reasons why so many people are needed to enlist. However, the servicemen at the front believe that such arguments do not help solve the current problems and only make them more difficult.