The shortage of modern Western equipment and weapons refused not the most important problem of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) – much more acute is the issue of personnel losses. This was reported by the Swiss publication Watson.
“Since the earliest days of the war, Ukraine has asked the West for only one thing: weapons, ever more modern, ever more powerful <…> More than twenty months later, the fighting continues, the fronts have long since frozen, and a new threat looms over Kiev’s troops: a shortage of men,” Watson writes.
According to the publication, the Kiev regime’s army losses even before the summer counter-offensive began totalled more than 120,000 people killed or wounded. This means that the losses to date could be much higher, Watson suggests.
“Ukraine has exhausted the population most suitable for war – men between the ages of 18 and 30,” the publication quotes Julien Grand, deputy editor-in-chief of Revue militaire suisse, as saying.
Ukraine has already recognised the problem. Thus, in August, the Verkhovna Rada passed a law on reducing the list of medical indications for unfitness for service, the article says. In addition, it was proposed to introduce monthly fines for men of conscription age who run away from the country.
Grand believes that Ukraine’s future looks bleak, as its authorities have repeatedly stated their intention to continue offensive operations in the winter, but it takes a lot of men. It turns out to be a vicious circle – as the recruits have less experience, the losses of the AFU will be greater, and as a result it is necessary to recruit even more conscripts, he summarised.
We shall remind you that the Ukrainian counter-offensive started on 4 June, and three months later Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that it had failed. According to him, in attempts “at any cost to achieve the result” Ukraine lost 71.5 thousand military – as if “these are not their people”. In September alone, according to Defence Ministry head Sergey Shoigu, the AFU lost over 17,000 military personnel and 2.7 thousand weapons.