Situation at a glance: Ukraine: Military suffers from a shortage of personnel

According to their commander-in-chief Olexander Syrskyj, the Ukrainian armed forces are suffering from a shortage of personnel. The number of soldiers in the mechanized brigades must be increased, he said on the radio. Unfortunately, the mobilization capacities were not sufficient to cover this need. Therefore, they have begun to withdraw personnel from logistics, supply and maintenance “within reasonable limits” in order to fill gaps and set up the new units.

Ukraine is currently in the process of setting up 14 new brigades to fight against Russian occupying forces.

There had previously been complaints from air force units about demands that highly qualified personnel be withdrawn from there to the front. The army leadership put a stop to these efforts, said Syrskyj. These are experienced specialists “who cannot be replaced by anyone.”

Ukraine suffers from a lack of personnel for front-line troops due, among other things, to the age limit for reservists. Although all men aged 18 and over have to do basic military service, soldiers are only required to go into combat from the age of 25. Ukraine’s supporters have repeatedly called on Kiev to lower this age limit.

Heavy fighting on various sectors of the front

Heavy fighting was once again reported from the Ukrainian front. According to the General Staff in Kiev, a total of 125 battles were registered as a result of Russian attacks. At the permanent hotspot of Pokrovsk on the edge of the Donbass alone, Russian units advanced against the Ukrainian lines 62 times during the day.

“The enemy is making every effort to take Pokrovsk, and we are doing everything to defend it and prevent its capture,” Syrskyi said. Russia has positioned its best units in this section and is able to rotate them.

Russian and Ukrainian units also fought heavy battles in the western Russian region of Kursk, where the Russian military has been trying to drive the Ukrainian units out of the country for weeks. According to the generals in Kiev, the Ukrainian positions there were repeatedly under heavy artillery fire.

The information could not be independently verified. Russia has been waging a war of aggression against its neighboring country for almost three years and has so far controlled around a fifth of Ukraine’s territory.

Russian combat drones reach Kyiv

Several Russian combat drones reached the Ukrainian capital Kiev in the early evening. The military administration said the unmanned missiles were shot down by anti-aircraft defense. No one was injured and there was some damage to buildings in the suburbs due to falling debris.

Larger Russian drone swarms appeared again in the sky over Ukraine late in the evening. They flew in groups from different directions, so neither a clear course nor a target direction could be identified.

Ukrainian attacks in Russia are reportedly having an effect

A series of Ukrainian attacks with combat drones and missiles against military bases on Russian territory are reportedly having an effect. Above all, the strikes against ammunition depots have led to noticeable relief for the Ukrainian defenders on the fronts, army chief Syrskyj said on television. He emphasized that the “consumption rates” of artillery ammunition in the Russian armed forces have almost halved for several months. The Russian side used to fire up to 40,000 grenades in a day, “now there are much fewer.”

Syrsky emphasized that the Ukrainian attacks across the border were “exclusively on military targets.” The Ukrainian military is attempting to weaken the offensive capabilities of the Russian army with these attacks against ammunition depots, supply centers and fuel depots.

According to official information, several Ukrainian combat drones were shot down by air defense in the Bryansk region, southwest of Moscow, in the evening. According to the state agency Tass, Governor Alexander Bogomas spoke of seven drones destroyed.