Evgenia Sokolenko10:50, 09/27/24

These people are not highly motivated, psychologically and physically unprepared – and as a result, they die at an alarming rate.

Ukraine has been able to increase the personnel and armament of its army, but the quality  of recruits raises many questions. Commands are increasingly concerned about the rate at which they are being wounded or killed in action.

According to  the Financial Times, the Ukrainian infantry is suffering the most. Some soldiers simply leave their positions, allowing the enemy to capture more territory. Four commanders, a deputy commander and almost a dozen soldiers from four Ukrainian brigades in Donetsk region said that the recruits lacked basic combat skills and motivation.

Recruits die quickly at the front: what are the reasons

Commanders estimate that 50 to 70 percent of new infantrymen are killed or wounded within days of starting their first rotation.

“When new guys get into positions, many of them run away at the first shell explosion,” said the deputy commander of Ukraine’s 72nd mechanized brigade, which is fighting near the city of Vugledar.

High-ranking Ukrainian officials said that since May, Ukraine has been mobilizing 30,000 soldiers per month. But commanders on the ground and military analysts warn that these people are not highly motivated, psychologically and physically unprepared — and are dying at an alarming rate as a result.

According to the commander, whose unit defends the positions around Kurakhovo, “some guys freeze because they are too afraid to shoot at the enemy, and then they are the ones who leave in body bags or badly wounded.” Some return so exhausted that they require psychiatric care.

The main problems with recruits

Age is a key issue in the Armed Forces, as the average figure is 45 years. Of about 30 infantrymen in the unit, the deputy commander of the 72nd Brigade said, half were in their 40s, only five were under 30, and the rest were over 50. Foot soldiers need to run fast and be strong enough to carry heavy weapons, which is hard to do when you’re old.

In addition, the Ukrainian army is led by officers and generals who began their careers in Soviet times and “never participated in hostilities.”

“It would be wiser to pay more attention to the characteristics and experience of each person to see which guys are the best fit, instead of sending everyone to the infantry,” said Mykhailo Temper, a battery commander in the 21st battalion of the separate brigade of the President of Ukraine.

According to him, all strata of society are represented in the infantry, but not all of them are suitable for the front. The mobilized convicts turned out to be good soldiers – they demonstrate self-sacrifice and the ability to adapt in the combat zone

Another major problem is that “the trainers don’t have real combat experience themselves, so they don’t teach newbies what they need to know to fight and, more importantly, stay alive.”

Instead, conscripts are trained in the “Soviet way”. New recruits rarely train with ammunition due to its scarcity.

“Some of them don’t even know how to hold rifles. They peel potatoes more than they shoot,” said one commander, who even bought paintball equipment instead of rifles and live ammunition so the recruits could practice more without wasting precious ammunition.

Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said this month that he had ordered to improve the quality of training for new recruits by selecting “motivated instructors with combat experience.” However, the commander of the artillery unit noted that the loss of tens of thousands of experienced soldiers during the war took its toll: “If there are not enough people to fight, there are not enough people to train.”

The war in Ukraine – problems in the Armed Forces

Volodymyr Bezditny, a soldier of the 244th battalion of the 112th separate brigade of the TRO Forces, said that Ukraine should create  a “mercenary” army, in particular by recruiting foreigners  for big money. It is more profitable than spending money on “busification” of unmotivated people who are of no use at the front.

“You try to find them some kind of work, you look: okay, you can dig, – I can’t dig, – and that’s when the circle of people in the divisions begins. You understand that you don’t need him, because he can’t perform the tasks facing the division, and you send him to any other unit, where he can theoretically perform his duties… He comes there, they tell him: can you lay mines? – Okay, to the air defense he gets paid. He comes to the air defense, they say, you will serve boxes with cartridges? But he goes around in circles, does nothing, but in the unit he receives a salary, sometimes even with a bonus,” explained Bezditny

(C)UNIAN 2024