As the Russian army closes in on the strategically crucial city of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine, Kyiv’s growing manpower shortages are becoming more and more apparent. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated this week that Ukrainian troops on the Pokrovsk front are currently outnumbered eight to one by Russian forces, highlighting the scale of the problem. After three and a half years of heroic and exceptionally bloody resistance, the fear is that Ukraine may now be approaching the point when the country no longer has enough fighters to effectively defend the full length of the front lines in Europe’s largest war since World War II.
Ukraine’s mobilization challenges are no secret and have been steadily mounting for much of the war. During the initial days of the full-scale invasion in early 2022, an unprecedented flood of volunteers made it possible to dramatically expand the size of the Ukrainian armed forces to around one million troops. However, as the conflict has dragged on into a fourth year amid consistently high casualty rates and escalating problems with desertion, this initial flow has slowed to a relative trickle. Individual units have responded by launching their own slick advertising campaigns to attract fresh recruits, while military mobilization officials have become notorious for dragging eligible men off the streets straight to military bases.
Voice of Ukraine 