Amid Russian Advance, a Problem For Ukraine: Not Enough Fighters

For all the concern over Western military aid, officials are worried about a shortage of troops

KYIV, UKRAINE – JUNE 29, 2024 – The patch of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on a sleeve. (Photo by KIRILL CHUBOTIN / Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images)

By Brian Bonner

Brian Bonner joined The Cipher Brief in March 2024. He led the Kyiv Post, Ukraine's English-language newspaper, from 2008-2021. He covered international, national and local news for the St. Paul Pioneer Press in Minnesota from 1983-2007.

DEEP DIVE — While Ukraine presses for more military support from the West and fewer restrictions on the use of NATO weapons, the country’s shortage of trained troops is raising fresh concerns among commanders and political leaders. 

As Russian forces make slow but steady gains in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region – recently seizing Vulhedar, a coal mining and transportation hub – the Ukrainian military is blaming deficits of weapons and soldiers for its battlefield retreats. 

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