Many of them were teachers and electricians etc a month ago: men Ukraine will dearly miss.
Posted on 07/03/2022 5:18:03 AM PDT by Mount Athos
Volunteers to the country’s territorial defense forces, reserve units of Ukraine’s armed forces, were initially assigned unglamorous but safe tasks in relatively tranquil regions like western Ukraine, where the Russians did not invade. But severe losses of manpower in the Donbas region, where Russia is grinding forward with ferocious bombing and shelling, has forced Ukraine’s military to draw reinforcements from the West.
Many of the fighters like Mr. Brukhal, who had no previous military experience, are simply unprepared for that escalated level of fighting. And the training they receive is limited — sometimes two weeks or less.
Colonel Kurko said that most people who joined his group had never served in the army.
He acknowledged that the relentless artillery shelling was “a challenge not everyone can cope with,” and added that some families had asked why their husbands and sons were being asked to deploy outside their home regions with no training.
One territorial defense company, made up of 100 soldiers from around Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, suffered 30 percent losses on its first day on the eastern front, around the town of Bakhmut in late spring, according to soldiers from the unit.
Territorial defense soldiers did not expect that kind of fierce engagement, said one soldier, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive topics.
Accounts from a half-dozen territorial defense soldiers interviewed for this article have been largely the same: They were trained as glorified guards during the war’s early months and then, as casualties mounted, were sent to the front.
“We are being torn to pieces, people falling down like flies, and why are we here?” the soldier said. “It’s unclear.”
These kinds of deployments have begun to draw small protests as wives, mothers and daughters of some of those who died express their discontent.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Correction: Massive artillery shelling has effects (shell shock) that pretty much no one can cope with. And the Russians are probably the best in the world at waging that kind of warfare.
“(W)hy are we here”.
Because NATO wants to fight to the last Ukrainian, that’s why. Who cares if you’re trained or don’t know how to hold a rifle?
Sad to see this play out in real time.
Ukraine has had time to give more than 2 weeks training to replacements.
If they want help they Western help they need to get serious about their own army.
The NYT with story that undermines narrative of Ukraine winning?
I agree.
I’m just not sure how many more able-bodied, willing, fighting-age males they have left. Their forces are getting ground into dust daily via Russian artillery.
My understanding was that a good number of their military were/are mercenaries. Not sure what the difficulty might be (might have been) in recruiting home-grown troops.
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4075586/posts
TIME IS NOT ON KYIV’S SIDE: TRAINING, WEAPONS, AND ATTRITION IN UKRAINE
Modern War Institute at West Point ^ | June 27, 2022 | Andrew Milburn
I heard there was a mass of men heading for the exits when they saw the movie about to be played.
I can see truth in that.
Many of them were teachers and electricians etc a month ago: men Ukraine will dearly miss.
Defense Politics Asia:
Ukraine SITREP ] Day 129 (2/7) Summary - Lysychansk encircled; Only Bilohorivka left in Luhansk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivRQBqLSjCI&ab_channel=DefensePoliticsAsia
[ Luhansk Front ] RF captured Bilohorivka, Verkhnokamyanske and Maloryazantseve; Encirclement closed
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iN-xYPNeJYY&ab_channel=DefensePoliticsAsia
“Not sure what the difficulty might be (might have been) in recruiting home-grown troops.”
Second, they had over 6,000 mercenaries. It is now down to 3,000. Many have died; many have left after they had an opportunity to see how bad the situation was. Ukraine’s oligarchs had hired 1,000 Americans and 3,000 other mercs. A week ago after two of ours were captured the Pentagon sent out a message to Ukraine that they wanted American mercs to leave Ukraine within the month.
Third, there is an ongoing (and almost funny) routine going on of authorities trying to “catch” people and writing them an immediate summons. The authorities used to be in uniform; but that gave advance warning to the “hiders” out and about in public and they got a running head start to avoid capture. (Videos on the net quite funny.)
Authorities wised up and no longer “recruit” in uniform and are catching more that way, though many military age men have left the country.
Fourth, 80% of Ukrainians are not “political” and don’t care who is leading the country. They are well aware of the unbelievably high casualty rates and do anything they can to avoid that fate.
Fifth, and most important most of the suitable men are dead or wounded or are already in the fight.
To make the world safe for the oligarchs of the New World Order. Serve Soros, and Schwab, and their cohorts well. And know that you will die so that they can destroy personal freedom.
A Ukrainian soldier in Bakhmut asks where the local men are? Why are they not fighting for Ukraine?
https://twitter.com/KhersonFrom/status/1543054725305798656?cxt=HHwWgMC4rZyGhOoqAAAA
Uuuh hello either they are waiting for Russia to come or they’re already fighting on the Russian side
Russia Asserts Full Control Over Luhansk Region With Fall Of Lysychansk
[Ukraine has had time to give more than 2 weeks training to replacements.
If they want help they Western help they need to get serious about their own army.]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Nickel_Grass#Operation
The liberal mantra is don’t blame Biden - blame Ukraine. Normally, I’d be fair-minded and look at both parties. However, given Biden’s mountain of screw-ups so far - and it’s not even 2 years yet - there is no reason to blame anyone but him.
And then there’s the cash Putin handed to Hunter, with the implicit promise of more to come. Best investment Putin ever made, and then some.
I said early on that if you don’t want your cities shelled, you declare them open cities and defend on geographical features.
If you force house-to-house fighting, don’t complain that the houses get destroyed.
This war would never have happened if Trump was President.
Blood on Democrat hands.
“if you don’t want your cities shelled”
It is my understanding that in much of the Donbas Russian ethnics typically live in the cities and ethnic Ukrainians are the majority in the countryside.
“houses get destroyed”
In Continental Europe, most people in cities live in apartment buildings I believe.
I would imagine there are many Ukrainians who did compulsory military service in the USSR.
They would be 50+ years of age.
For many years now, the young in Ukraine wanted Ukraine to join the EU, not for prosperity in Ukraine but so they could get their EU work card and leave for better opportunities.
Who would risk their life for the Democrat dumps of Portland, Seattle, New York City, San Francisco, Chicago, Newark, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, etc.?
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