Poor training of conscripts contributes to that Kiev is losing territories on the eastern front, claim Ukrainian commanders quoted by the Associated Press, BTA reported.
Some Ukrainian recruits refuse to shoot at the enemy. Others, according to commanders and fellow fighters, have difficulty assembling weapons or coordinating basic combat movements. Several of them have even left their post and the battlefield.
As Ukraine continues its offensive in Russia's Kursk region, its troops continue to lose valuable ground along the country's eastern front, an unfortunate development that military commanders partly blame on poorly trained recruits brought in during the recent mobilization, as well as the apparent superiority of Russia in terms of ammunition and air power.
„Some soldiers don't want to shoot. They see the enemy in a firing position in the trenches, but they do not open fire /.../ That is why our people are dying, says a disappointed battalion commander in the 47th brigade of Ukraine. "When they don't use the weapon, they are ineffective," he added.
The comments came from commanders and soldiers who spoke to the AP on condition that they be identified only by their callsigns in accordance with Ukrainian military protocol. Commanders say the recruits have contributed to a series of territorial losses that have allowed the Russian army to advance, including near the city of Pokrovsk, an important logistics hub. If he falls, defeat will threaten Ukraine's defenses and bring Russia closer to its cherished goal of conquering all of Donbas. The Russian soldiers are already about 10 kilometers from Pokrovsk, AP reports.
Russian forces have captured the village of Mezhevoye in the Donetsk region, in eastern Ukraine, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced today, as quoted by Reuters. Reuters points out that it cannot independently confirm this information.
Ukraine has launched a drone attack on Russia's Marinovka military airfield in southern Russia's Volgograd region, hitting a fuel depot and planning bombs, a security source in Kiev said today, quoted by Reuters. The governor of Volgograd region, Andrey Bocharov, said earlier that a fire broke out at a military facility in the region after a Ukrainian drone crashed into it. The official added that no one was injured in the attack.