Ukrainan tyhjästä luodut joukot ovat helisemässä idässä:
Ihor’s company is part of the 32nd Separate Mechanized Brigade, one of the new brigades that Ukraine began staffing at the start of the year. It’s also one of the few brigades that are set to hold the northeastern front, while the majority of troops and equipment is stationed on the southern front where Ukraine’s slowly pushing forward.
While it’s doing its duty defending Russia’s push in Kharkiv Oblast, lack of experience and the limits of training and equipment made for a harrowing first two months in the field.
Fighting throughout Ukraine is grueling, even for hardened veterans. For inexperienced troops recently plucked from civilian life, it’s something else altogether.
Before January, the 32nd didn’t exist, and the vast majority of its soldiers were civilians who had never shot anyone. Many did not want to be in the army.
Soldiers from different brigades told the Kyiv Independent that the Russians in this area are experienced and well-equipped soldiers, extensively stocked with artillery shells and MLRS rockets.
Soldiers from the 32nd are open about how in over their heads they often feel. The infantrymen talk about being outmatched by the competent and seemingly fearless Russian troops they saw on this axis of attack.
Like most units, the 32nd is starved for vehicles and artillery ammo. Most of the good equipment is deployed to the counteroffensive on the Zaporizhzhia front.
It also lacks battlefield experience, from low ranks to commanding officers. Nor do they have many options to draw on somebody else’s
However, the same soldiers who spoke to the Kyiv Independent didn’t hide their scorn about how the training prepared them for a war that doesn’t exist in Ukraine. They said the NATO officers don’t understand the reality on the ground.
A tank platoon commander named Vladyslav recalls how the first time a Ukrainian tried to use a tank radio, the Russians immediately zeroed in on it and buried it in artillery. Since then, they learned never to use communications devices more powerful than a hand-held.