13:37 27-11-2025

Ukraine Faces Critical Manpower Crisis, MWM Reports

Military Watch Magazine reports a worsening manpower crisis in Ukraine’s forces, citing Maksim Zhorin’s warning about lost sectors and escalating frontline pressure.

The situation with manpower in the Armed Forces of Ukraine is becoming increasingly strained, according to a report by Military Watch Magazine (MWM), which cites Maksim Zhorin — the former commander of the Ukrainian «Azov» brigade* and now deputy commander of the 3rd Army Corps.

MWM notes that Zhorin warned of a critical state along the frontline. He stressed that Ukraine is losing not just individual settlements, as often described by Western sources, but «entire sectors,» with Russian units advancing at a rapid pace.

Zhorin emphasized that the battlefield picture for Ukraine continues to deteriorate. According to him, the discussion is no longer about isolated towns changing hands but about the loss of full operational directions.

MWM states that Zhorin’s assessment aligns with reports from both Western observers and Ukrainian soldiers, who also describe the frontline situation as increasingly dire. A key factor driving this decline, the publication notes, is a severe shortage of personnel.

This shortage has forced Ukraine’s military and political leadership to intensify coercive mobilization measures and to deploy foreign fighters from Europe, the United States, and Latin America to the front. Those units, however, are also suffering heavy casualties.

The article additionally points to the large number of men who have left Ukraine and to hundreds of thousands of deserters, further aggravating the issue.

*«Azov» is designated in Russia as a terrorist organization.