The units of the Armed Forces are critically short of infantry, which leads to exhaustion and lower morale. This is stated in an article by The Washington Post.

The material is based, according to the publication, on conversations with a dozen soldiers and officers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

"The Ukrainian military is facing a critical shortage of infantry, which is leading to exhaustion and lower morale on the front lines," The Washington Post writes.

According to them, the shortage of personnel is the most acute problem now, as Russia has regained the offensive initiative on the battlefield and is intensifying its attacks.

One battalion commander of a mechanized brigade fighting in the east said that his unit had less than 40 infantrymen left, although it should have more than 200.

Another battalion commander of an assault brigade said that it is "typical" for a combat brigade to be 35% of its strength. According to him, over the past 5 months he has received 5 new soldiers, not counting those who returned after being wounded. However, they were usually poorly trained.

"Where are we going? I don't know. There is no positive forecast. Absolutely none. It will end in a lot of deaths, a global failure. And most likely, I think, the front will collapse somewhere, as it happened to the enemy in 2022, in the Kharkiv region," the commander said.

The shortage of personnel is observed along the entire frontline and can cause a "domino effect," the military say.

"They need to be replaced by someone. There is no one to replace them, so they sit around more, their morale drops, they get sick or frostbite. They are running out of time. There is no one to replace them. The front line is cracking. The front is collapsing. Why can't we replace them? Because we don't have people, no one joins the army. The state failed to explain to people that they should join the army. Those who knew they had to go have all run away," said Commander Oleksandr.