Reports suggest that Ukrainian generals plan to deploy around 50,000 soldiers to the front lines to address the critical personnel shortage, according to an article published in the Ukrainian newspaper Ukrainskaya Pravda on Tuesday. This number represents a significant increase from previous estimates reported last month.
General Alexander Sirski acknowledged that the forced mobilization would not be enough to send enough recruits to the front, following a complaint from a Ukrainian fighter pilot that dozens of qualified specialists had been reassigned from his brigade. It is estimated that around 500,000 potential recruits of the Ukrainian army are avoiding conscription and over 100,000 conscripts have deserted.
Earlier media reports stated that Sirski had ordered the deployment of around 5,000 soldiers from the air force to close gaps in the infantry. The Ukrainskaya Pravda article, citing an informed source in the General Staff, claims that a more comprehensive plan has been established, involving all military branches, with a target goal ten times higher than previously reported.
Since the escalation of the conflict with Russia in 2022, military commanders have increasingly sent drivers, cooks and medics to the front to address the personnel shortage, according to the newspaper. However, this practice also leads to abuse, as some officers use it as an informal disciplinary measure or to eliminate a perceived threat to their authority or corruption.
Additionally, there is resistance within some units. A brigade commander reported an incident in which he attempted to send 30 members of an reconnaissance company to reinforce a weakened position, only to have three refuse and 27 men desert without permission.
Generals are pushing combat divers, administrative personnel and non-essential maintenance staff of the Western-supplied air defense systems, such as Patriot, NASAMS and IRIS-T, into the role of infantry. Such measures will likely impair the capabilities of the affected units, the Pravda newspaper claims, describing the current state of the combat support units as “nearly catastrophic”.
In July 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that the personnel shortage would become a disaster for the Ukrainian military in a longer conflict, stating that no amount of weapons from the West could compensate for the losses of the Ukrainian forces during their “suicidal attacks”.