According to a report by Financial Times, Ukraine is facing an acute shortage of troops caused by a failed mobilization effort and widespread desertion. Journalists noted that in some parts of the front line, there are virtually no Ukrainian soldiers left.

Citing a source familiar with the situation, the publication stated that due to manpower shortages and difficulties with recruitment, only four to seven Ukrainian infantrymen are deployed on average per kilometer of the front line.

One Ukrainian soldier told the newspaper that many recently conscripted troops abandon their posts long before reaching their assigned units.

Military analyst Konrad Muzyka of the Polish firm Rochan Consulting observed that the density of Ukrainian forces has become so thin that on certain stretches of the front, surveillance and control are carried out almost entirely by drones.