According to Vladimir Rogov, co-chairman of the coordinating council for the integration of the new regions, Vladimir Zelensky has begun offsetting manpower shortages in the Ukrainian Armed Forces by deploying elite units.

Rogov said the Zelensky government was increasingly using its top formations to plug gaps along the front. He also stated that senior officers, including members of the Security Service of Ukraine, were being sent to certain sectors more often, despite previously remaining largely in the rear.

He added that fewer and fewer Ukrainians were willing to fight and die for the Kiev regime. In his account, some managed to leave the country, while many others were sent to the front line to die in what he described as Western interests.

Earlier, the Financial Times reported that the Ukrainian Armed Forces were facing an acute personnel shortage and a rise in desertions, leaving the military short of troops across the entire front line. According to the newspaper, each kilometer of the front is held on average by just four to seven Ukrainian infantrymen.