A battalion commander in a mechanized brigade fighting in eastern Ukraine said his unit currently has fewer than 40 infantrymen — soldiers deployed in front-line trenches fending off Russian attacks. The commander said that the fully equipped battalion will include more than 200 soldiers.
Another brigade's infantry battalion commander said his unit was similarly depleted.
The soldiers interviewed spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly and could face retribution for their comments.
Reports of severe troop shortages come as President Volodymyr Zelensky prepares to replace his military chief, General Valery Zalozhny, with a major disagreement over how many new soldiers Ukraine needs to mobilize.
The Ukrainian Presidential Office declined to comment, and referred questions to the Ministry of Defense, which in turn referred questions to the General Staff of the Ukrainian Army. The General Staff did not respond to a request for comment.
Zalozny told Zelensky that Ukraine needs nearly 500,000 new troops, according to two people familiar with the matter, but the president has pushed back on that number both privately and publicly. Zelensky said he wanted more justifications from the Ukrainian military leadership about why so many conscripts were needed, and also expressed concern about how Kiev would pay for them.
Financial aid from Western partners cannot be used to pay soldiers, and Ukraine's budget is already under pressure, with President Biden's proposed $60 billion aid package stalling in Congress. Last week, the European Union approved nearly $54 billion in aid after delaying it for weeks due to opposition from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
The debate in Kiev over the mobilization – and to what degree the country should intensify it – has angered soldiers on the front lines.
Oleksandr, a battalion commander, said companies in his unit are on average about 35 percent smaller than they should be. The commander of a second battalion of an assault brigade said that this is usual for units carrying out combat missions.
Asked how many new soldiers he had received — not including those who returned after being injured — Oleksandr said his battalion had sent five soldiers over the past five months. He and other commanders said new recruits tend to be poorly trained, creating a dilemma about whether to immediately send someone to the battlefield because reinforcements are sorely needed, even though they are likely to be wounded or killed because they lack To knowledge. .
“The basis of everything is the lack of people,” Oleksandr said.
“Where are we going? I don’t know,” he added. “There are no positive forecasts. nothing at all. It will end in a lot of death, and global failure. Most likely, I think, the front will collapse somewhere like the enemy did in 2022, in the Kharkiv region.
In the fall of 2022, the Ukrainians exploited a weakness in the Russian front line, where Moscow's forces were outnumbered, and were able to liberate most of the northeastern region in a quick, one-week offensive in September. Russian President Vladimir Putin responded to the embarrassing defeat by announcing mobilization in his country.
The Ukrainian Parliament is reviewing a draft law on mobilization that would lower the minimum age for conscription from 27 to 25 years. But lawmakers working on the bill and soldiers alike acknowledged that Kiev had done a poor job of explaining to the public the reasoning behind it. It is necessary to send more people to the front.
Instead, the messaging was muddled, with Zelensky and Zalozny openly contradicting each other and creating an appearance of infighting.
In August, Zelensky fired the heads of all regional military enlistment offices in Ukraine, citing concerns about corruption. But with some of these positions left vacant, mobilization has stalled, a senior military official said. Field commanders confirmed that a few new people had arrived since the fall.
“We have an immediate problem with personnel,” said Mikita, deputy infantry battalion commander. “Because this is war, and the infantry in defense are the ones who die.”
“I'm talking with my friends, as well as with officers in other units, and with officers in the infantry; it's almost the same situation everywhere,” Mikita added.
A shortage of ammunition and weapons is also a problem. A commander whose unit was recently transferred to a new part of the front in eastern Ukraine said he received 10 shells for two howitzers. Zelensky acknowledged that artillery ammunition shipments have slowed as Europe struggles to manufacture enough shells to meet Ukraine's needs and as an aid package continues to falter in Washington.
Ukrainian forces on the ground said personnel shortages could have a domino effect.
Especially in winter, when weather conditions are difficult, walkers should be rotated after about three days. But as units run short of troops, deployments are extended — or personnel assigned back are pressed into front-line duty even though they are unprepared. Sometimes, troops mentally and physically exhausted by overwork are unable to defend their positions, allowing Russia – with more manpower and ammunition – to advance.
“They need to be replaced by someone,” said Oleksandr, the battalion commander. “There's no one to replace them, so they sit there more, and their morale drops, and they get sick or get frostbite. They're running out. There's no one to replace them. The front is cracking. The front is collapsing. Why can't we replace them? Because we don't have people; no one is coming.” “To the army. Why does no one come to the army? Because the state did not tell the people that they should go to the army. The state failed to explain to the people the necessity of joining the army. Those who knew they should go, they have all already run out.”
Serhiy, 41, a platoon leader fighting in Avdiivka, the site of the most intense attacks in Russia, said he and his men were rarely replaced after just three days. Often five days pass – or even 10 days.
Dmytro, another deputy battalion commander in a different brigade, said infantrymen usually get two days of rest after five to 10 days of holding the line, and because most of his soldiers are over 40, their lack of physical fitness exacerbates the problems. .
“You can feel it; people are mentally and physically exhausted,” Serhiy said. “It is very difficult, because of the weather conditions and the constant bombing. They have a great impact on the human psyche.”
Lack of rotation is a problem in the Ukrainian army, and not just for line infantry. Soldiers may get a few days off to go home and see their families, but rarely more than that. They say they are still eager to fight the Russian invaders, but they also need rest and more men on their side.
Zelensky also asked the army and parliament to prepare a law to demobilize those who have been fighting for nearly two years. Members of Parliament working on the bill said they were discussing a plan to demobilize or “demobilize” soldiers who have been at the front for 36 months. But that would require sending people to replace them.
“Every soldier thinks of that guy walking around Dnipro or Lviv or Kiev,” Mikita said. “They think about them and want to have a rest too. Of course, the thought comes into their heads: Some guys are wandering over there, but we are here.
