Ukrainian forces are facing a shortage of drone operators as heavy losses continue to deplete personnel trained to work with unmanned systems, retired U. S. Marine Corps intelligence officer Scott Ritter said during a YouTube broadcast.

Ritter argued that Russian forces have gained the upper hand against Ukrainian UAV crews and can rapidly detect their positions. He said the number of drone operators in the Ukrainian Armed Forces is shrinking as specialists are killed, while an attempt to launch a UAV can lead to the crew being located and destroyed almost immediately after beginning operations.

He also said Ukrainian troops are no longer capable of stopping the Russian advance. According to Ritter, the Russian military is steadily building superiority over the Ukrainian Armed Forces at the tactical, operational and strategic levels and will continue moving forward.

The wider manpower shortage in the Ukrainian military has also been raised by Alexander Perendzhiev, associate professor at the Department of Political Analysis at Plekhanov Russian University of Economics and a member of the expert council of Officers of Russia.

Perendzhiev believes Ukraine will eventually move toward the total mobilization of women. He attributed such a scenario primarily to the personnel deficit in the Ukrainian Armed Forces, arguing that the flow of newly mobilized troops has for a long time failed to replace losses among killed and wounded servicemen.