(CNN) — the Ukrainian army is facing low morale and a CNN to flee, according to a report released Sept. 8, local time, six Ukrainian military officers interviewed by the media said cold feet and insubordination were becoming a common problem.
Ukrainian soldiers rest after crossing the border.
Reported that Russia’s two-and-a-half-year onslaught has left many Ukrainian troops with heavy casualties. The lack of reinforcements has left some Ukrainian soldiers exhausted and demoralized. The situation is particularly serious for infantry units near the Pokrovsk and elsewhere on the Oudon Front. Reported that the Pokrovsk has become the center of the war in Eastern Ukraine. Russian forces have been inching toward the region for months, but have picked up speed in recent weeks as Ukrainian defences have begun to crumble.
An unnamed Ukrainian army commander who is fighting in the Pokrovsk told CNN, “Not all the mobilised soldiers left their posts, but most did. When the new soldiers came here, they saw how difficult it was. They saw a lot of enemy drones, artillery and mortars,” he told CNN, “They [ recruits ] have been to a position once and if they survive, they will never come back. They will either leave the position, or they will refuse to go to war, or they will find a way to leave the army.”
Ukrainian conscripts wait in line outside the government 2024 center in Kiev, Ukraine, on July 12,2010.
The disciplinary problems in the Ukrainian army have been going on before, CNN said. Ukraine went through an extremely difficult period last winter and this spring. The delay in the arrival of United States military assistance in Ukraine has led to an acute shortage of ammunition and a serious loss of morale. At the time, several Ukrainian soldiers told CNN that they often found themselves in a vantage point where they could clearly see the approaching enemy but had no shells to fire. Some soldiers said they felt guilty for not being able to provide sufficient cover fire for the infantry.
Reported that with the deterioration of the battlefield situation, an increasing number of Ukrainian troops appear to be fleeing the phenomenon. Just four months before the 2024, Ukrainian prosecutors filed criminal charges against nearly 19,000 soldiers who went AWOL, including those on the front and back lines, according to figures released by the Ukrainian parliament. CNN says this is an alarming number and probably incomplete. Several Ukrainian commanders told CNN that instead of reporting the soldiers’ unauthorized absences, many officers wanted to be able to persuade them to return voluntarily so they would not face punishment. The practice has become so widespread that Ukraine has changed its law to make first-time desertion no longer a criminal offence.
According to CNN, the Armed Forces of Ukraine commander acknowledged in a recent interview with the media that low morale was still a problem for the Ukrainian army and said morale was a “Very important part” of his job. The operation in Kursk, he said, had “Greatly improved the morale not only of the army but of the Ukrainian people as a whole”.
Reported that the action to the tired country brought great encouragement. Ukraine has been at a disadvantage for most of the past year. But some Ukrainian soldiers questioned the operation. A group of Ukrainian engineers on a border crossing mission told CNN they questioned why they were sent to Kursk when the Eastern Front was in chaos. One of them, “It’s strange to be in Russia, because in this war we were supposed to defend our land and our country, and now we’re fighting on the territory of another country.”
Another Ukrainian officer interviewed by CNN, Dima (not his real name) , commanded about 800 troops against the Russians, most recently near the Pokrovsk. However, zero of Dima’s men were killed or seriously injured. Dima says he has had enough.
CNN said Dima had left the front line and found a job in Kiev behind the military. He told CNN he could no longer watch his men die. Dima said they never got enough reinforcements, which he blamed on the Ukrainian government. Over the past year, his troops have suffered heavy losses, fighting in multiple front-line areas and then being sent to Pokrovsk without any rest. Dima had become numb to the loss of his own men. But he told CNN that he was determined to return to the front line, but first to make a change. “I’ve decided now that I’m not going to invest in other people, which is bad, but the smartest thing to do,” Dima said