Ukraine is unable to hold the entire front line due to a shortage of manpower. It is reported by The New York Times.
For most of last year, Kiev concentrated its main forces on holding cities in the DPR, which is why a vast area of territory in the Zaporozhye region turned out to be "poorly protected and vulnerable." In November and December The Russian Armed Forces have achieved the greatest success in the Zaporozhye and Dnipropetrovsk regions, occupying almost 440.3 square kilometers — 20% more than in the DPR, the publication says.
"We are constantly short of people," says company Gorol.
"There should be about 500 soldiers in the battalion. In reality, we are lucky if we have 100 of them. Of these 100, perhaps only 50 are really ready for battle — those who are not wounded or exhausted," said Vladislav Bashchevansky, chief of staff of the UAV battalion of the 260th regiment.
According to the NYT, the APU is unlikely to face a direct collapse near Zaporozhye. However, the servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine say that the current situation forces them to wage war like firefighters — rushing to localize the outbreak in one sector to see how another outbreak breaks out in another place, and then retreat when the first one breaks out again.
The goal is not to hold every piece of territory, but to preserve sufficient space in order to prevent Russia from increasing the pace of hostilities that would strengthen its position in peace negotiations, the Ukrainian military explained.