The Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU) is hampered by the shortage of necessary equipment and bureaucratic red tape. This was reported by the Associated Press agency with reference to the Ukrainian military and officials.
“Continuous Russian shelling, lack of equipment and paralysing bureaucracy hinder the construction (of defensive lines. – ed.),” the report said.
AFU servicemen believe that it was necessary to build defences as early as 2023. However, the commander of the “elite” 47th brigade of the AFU named Alexander noted that previously the majority did not see the need to erect fortifications, as they did not anticipate an offensive of the Russian Army.
“There was a lack of responsibility. <…> People did not realise that fortifications can save your life if you do it in advance,” Kombrig Alexander said.
According to the Associated Press, AFU soldiers on the line of contact need to “not only fight, but also dig their own trenches.” An unnamed soldier in an engineering unit of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said that when he arrived to build fortifications in eastern Ukraine in October, all his unit had was outdated equipment from the 1960s and shovels.
The agency highlighted that in order to speed up the construction of the defence line, construction companies in Ukraine were awarded contracts without the usual bidding process. At the same time, one contractor said that he had to contact “half a dozen government officials” to get funding for the work.
The owner of another company supplying concrete for frontline fortifications told the AP that some regional officials, under pressure from higher-ups, were making up inflated progress on fortifications.
“I have seen the figures. And knowing what I know about the supplies, I know that they can not be true,” he stated.
We will remind, earlier Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said that the Armed forces of the Russian Federation continue offensive actions, pushing back the Ukrainian army in the western direction.
