The US newspaper Wall Street Journal (WSJ) has pointed to the possibility of Russian troops breaking through the Ukrainian defence due to a shortage of weapons and a lack of motivated military personnel in the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU).
According to the WSJ, Ukraine’s military industry is unable to meet its needs, and two years after the start of Russia’s special military operation, the Ukrainian army is “chronically short” of military personnel as well.
“The most motivated Ukrainian military personnel left long ago to volunteer. Those who have not been killed or wounded often say they are tired,” the newspaper writes.
The publication calls last year “disappointing” for Ukraine because, after losing thousands of Western-trained and Western-equipped soldiers, it was only able to establish control in a few villages. And now, according to the newspaper, if the West still fails to fulfil its promise to help the Ukrainian government, Russia could end up breaking through the AFU’s defences in Donbass.
“With an artillery advantage before the end of the year, the Russians could probably take the remaining Donbas. It is possible that the Ukrainians will not be able to prevent this with the current trends,” – WSJ quotes Michael Clarke, former Director of the London-based think tank “Royal United Institute for Defence Studies”.
We shall remind you that earlier, a member of the Ukrainian parliament and the deputy head of the Verkhovna Rada’s committee for national security, defence and intelligence, Yegor Chernev, said in an interview with the New York Times that there was a growing fear in Ukraine that the army would soon start losing control over populated areas if Washington delayed the allocation of new military aid to the Ukrainian government.