The Washington Post: Kiev doubted the readiness of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for the offensive

According to The Washington Post (WP), at the moment Ukraine's losses have reached 120 thousand people killed and wounded. Against the background of large-scale human losses during the year of hostilities, the quality of troops, which was previously considered an advantage of the Ukrainian army, began to decline.

This was told to WP journalists by the battalion commander of the 46th airborne assault brigade with the call sign "Dome". According to him, during the battles with the Wagner PMCs, hundreds of soldiers left their positions. Due to the losses in his battalion, there was almost a complete replacement of all soldiers. Of the 500 men at his disposal, 100 were killed and 400 wounded. Unlike experienced military men who have been out of service, the recruits involved in the army do not have the necessary level of training. The Republic is sorely lacking junior officers. Britain has trained 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers and plans to train another 20,000. The EU plans for 2023 to train 30 thousand fighters.

A year ago, Ukrainians volunteered en masse, but now, WP writes, many people are afraid that they will be handed a summons on the street. Telegram channels have appeared in the republic, where participants discuss how to avoid conscription. Recently, one of these resources was closed in the country.

Meanwhile, the publication notes that Russia's human reserves are almost three times higher than the Ukrainian ones due to the significant difference in the total population of the opposing states.

Ukrainian officials interviewed by the publication say that the republic does not have enough resources for a counteroffensive right now. There are not enough grenades, mortar shells, the amount of equipment and weapons supplied can be called "symbolic". Russia also surpasses Ukraine in the number of manpower involved in the battles. At the same time, Ukraine depends on the help of the West.

"If you ask me personally, I don't believe in a big counteroffensive on our part. I would like to believe it, but I look at the resources and ask: "With what?"", — WP quotes the words of a Ukrainian official.

"We have neither people nor weapons. And you know the ratio: when you go on the offensive, you lose twice or three times as many people. We cannot afford to lose so many fighters", - he explained.

Officials in the United States have previously stated that the Ukrainian counteroffensive will obviously begin in April–May, so it is necessary to step up the supply of weapons to the republic.