WaPo: Ukraine short of skilled troops and munitions as losses, pessimism grow

[WarGamer]

Link is from MD because WaPo has a pay wall...

If you only read Ukrainian reporting... you'd be misled about the current state of the battlefield.

The quality of Ukraine’s military force, once considered a substantial advantage over Russia, has been degraded by a year of casualties that have taken many of the most experienced fighters off the battlefield, leading some Ukrainian officials to question Kyiv’s readiness to mount a much-anticipated spring offensive, writes ‘Washington Post’.

U.S. and European officials have estimated that as many as 120,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed or wounded since the start of Russia’s special military operation early last year. Ukraine keeps its running casualty numbers secret, even from its staunchest Western supporters.

Statistics aside, an influx of inexperienced draftees, brought in to plug the losses, has changed the profile of the Ukrainian force, which is also suffering from basic shortages of ammunition, including artillery shells and mortar bombs, according to military personnel in the field.

https://moderndiplomacy.eu/2023/03/19/wp-ukraine-short-of-skilled-troops-and-munitions-as-losses-pessimism-grow/

A German official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to be candid, said that Berlin estimates Ukrainian casualties, including dead and wounded, are as high as 120,000. “They don’t share the information with us because they don’t trust us,” the official said.

[BeyondGeography]

1. Read the whole WaPo article if you can

Difficulties are real but the picture is more balanced than this OP would suggest. Ukraine has lost many valuable junior officers but they are investing in training and organizing new battalions for the spring counter-offensive. A lot, needless to say, will be riding on that.

[progree]

2. Washington Post -

Full article: https://archive.is/4Uy04

excerpts from:

... “And there are only a few soldiers with combat experience,” Kupol added. “Unfortunately, they are all already dead or wounded.”

... And the situation for Russia may be worse. During a NATO meeting last month, U.K. Defense Minister Ben Wallace said that 97 percent of Russia’s army was already deployed in Ukraine and that Moscow was suffering “First World War levels of attrition.”

... “If you have more resources, you more actively attack,” the senior [Ukrainian] official said. “If you have fewer resources, you defend more. We’re going to defend. That’s why if you ask me personally, I don’t believe in a big counteroffensive for us. I’d like to believe in it, but I’m looking at the resources and asking, ‘With what?’ Maybe we’ll have some localized breakthroughs.”

...