Ukrainian general says the front is collapsing as Kiev intends to mobilise another 160.000 men to continue the fight against Russia
A Ukrainian general has named three reasons for a series of battlefield setbacks recently suffered by Kiev’s troops in the conflict with Russia.
Maj. Gen. Dmitry Marchenko, a career Air Assault Forces officer currently involved in the defense of the city of Nikolayev, told a Ukrainian online news commentary show on Monday THAT A shortage of munitions, battle fatigue, and poor quality of command and control were behind the failures.
A military officer from Ukraine’s third separate assault brigade is seen recruiting in Kiev Region, Ukrain © Getty Images / Ashley Chan
In the past several months, Russian forces have liberated numerous settlements in the Donetsk People’s Republic that had previously been under Ukrainian control. The city of Ugledar, formerly a key point in Ukraine’s defense line in the east, was fully captured earlier this month.
Maj. Gen. Dmitry Marchenko, a career Air Assault Forces officer currently involved in the defense of the city of Nikolayev, told a Ukrainian online news commentary show on Monday of three key factors behind the setbacks. Those are a shortage of munitions, battle fatigue, and poor quality of command and control.
“The third thing is the disbalance of command. What is happening now, let me just say that this surely should not be happening,” Marchenko said.
He cited the battle for Ugledar as an example of how poor leadership resulted in a severe setback. The Ukrainian 72nd Mechanized Brigade that was defending the city had its commander replaced in late September right before it was pulled back to be replaced by another unit. Marchenko believes that whoever made that decision undermined the 72nd’s combat capability.
“We all know this, and I will not reveal any military secret if I say that our front is collapsing,” Marchenko said of the overall situation. Units get “no reinforcement, and people are very-very-very tired and cannot hold the line,” he added.
Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky earlier this month presented his so-called ‘victory plan’ in the conflict. He requested an immediate invitation for Ukraine to join NATO, permission to strike targets deep inside Russia with Western long-range weapons, deployment of Western “conventional deterrence forces” on Ukrainian soil, and other measures.
Speaking in parliament on Tuesday, Ukrainian lawmaker Alexey Goncharenko said that “1.05 million citizens have been recruited into the defense forces” since the conflict with Russia escalated in February 2022.
“We aim to call up 160,000 more individuals, which will allow us to staff military units with up to 85% personnel,” he said, noting that this information came from Alexander Litvinenko, the secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council.
Shortly afterwards, AFP reported that these troops would be called up over the next three months, citing an unnamed “security source.”
According to a flood of articles in Western media outlets, conscripted soldiers are often sent to the front with limited training, and are regarded by their more experienced comrades as unfit for combat. “When the new guys get to the position, a lot of them run away at the first shell explosion,” a deputy commander fighting in Donetsk Region told Financial Times last month. “Some guys freeze [because] they are too afraid to shoot the enemy, and then they are the ones who leave in body bags or severely wounded,” another commander added.
Source/X/RT/AP/FT