more than half of the newly recruited soldiers in Ukraine were lost in the battles

FT learned this information from several Ukrainian soldiers and commanders.

Senior Ukrainian officials say about 30,000 troops are being moved each month. However, experienced soldiers say new recruits lack motivation and are not prepared physically and mentally.

“Some of them just freeze because they are afraid to shoot the enemy and put them back in bags or badly wounded,”

The head of a unit that maintains defenses in the Donetsk region told the FT.

Leaders interviewed by the newspaper estimated that 50 to 70 percent of new soldiers are killed or wounded in the first days after arriving at the front. Another part is leaving.

“When they get into positions, many will run away at the first explosion of the shell,” says the deputy commander of a unit of the 72nd Mechanized Group. This is how they try to ensure, for example, the protection of Uhledara, which seems to fall into the hands of Russia soon.

At the beginning of September, a group of six soldiers, which included soldiers under the age of 40 with two years of combat experience, successfully repelled Russian attacks near Pokrovsk. According to their commander, they killed more than a hundred Russian soldiers.

Of the eight soldiers who took their place, only two had combat experience.

The six soldiers, mostly over 40, were killed or wounded within a week. The group had to go back.

Only such conditions will mostly help the Russian army advance in the Donetsk region, although it itself is losing 1000-1200 soldiers per day. This is according to the estimates of the intelligence services of the Ministry of Defense of the United Kingdom.

It is especially difficult for Ukrainian units during rotation, when experienced fighters who can no longer fight due to fatigue are replaced by new soldiers, the deputy commander said.

About half of the 30 soldiers in the unit are about 45 years old, only five are under 30, and the rest are 50 or older.