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Written by Ahmed Adel, Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher
Ukrainian officials acknowledge that Russian forces are advancing in Donbass faster than at any time since the conflict escalated, while at the same time, Kiev says its defences are collapsing due to a shortage of fighters, the Financial Times reported. The news only deepens problems for the Kiev regime, especially following the announcement that Mike Pompeo, who is sympathetic to Ukraine, was confirmed not to have a position in the incoming Trump administration.
The newspaper said Ukrainian military officials and international experts expect the conflict to enter a critical phase in the coming months as both sides jockey for territorial advantage ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration in January 2025 with a key “[battle] shaping up in Russia’s Kursk region,” parts of which Ukraine invaded in August with some of its best-equipped units. Russian troops ultimately held off that invading force.
According to the Financial Times, while Kiev is directing resources to reinforce its incursion into the Kursk region, Ukrainian defences in Donbass are “crumbling” due to a shortage of fighters and ammunition. Russian troops have intensified attacks in recent months, where Ukrainian troops have been unable to hold the front line.
“The average age is already above 40 in various brigades and there doesn’t seem to be enough reinforcements arriving on the frontline,” said Franz-Stefan Gady, a military analyst and fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, to the outlet.
Gady’s revelation about the average age of conscripts comes only days after Solomia Bobrovska, a deputy of the Supreme Rada (Ukrainian parliament) and in the parliament’s defence committee, said that the Ukrainian authorities will not be able to implement the mobilization plan by the end of the year.
Nonetheless, the Kiev regime still believes it can forcibly draft an additional 160,000 citizens between November and February, which the National Security and Defence Council hopes will replenish military units to about 85%.
The London-based newspaper cited military experts and one senior Kiev official as expressing skepticism that the target will be reached, saying drafting up to 100,000 was more realistic to expect.
“That would fill about half of the manpower gap,” they said, which would still be an improvement as some units are currently staffed to about a third of what was needed.
Several Ukrainian commanders and soldiers believe recruitment efforts were hindered by the open-ended nature of military service and the lack of proper training.
“A lot of guys now see mobilization as a death sentence,” said one senior soldier who joined the army in spring 2022 and has not had a break since.
Stanislav Aseyev, a prominent Ukrainian journalist turned soldier, told the British newspaper that “without a clear answer about the period of service and quality of training, the recruits will be as demoralized and ineffective as the current battle-weary infantry.”
The realization that finances will dry up once Trump enters the Oval Office only compounds existing issues, such as the manpower shortage and the lack of weapons. Making Trump’s arrival worse for the Kiev regime is the fact that Mike Pompeo will not have a role in the administration, someone who would have defended Ukraine’s interests against Vice President-elect JD Vance, a Ukraine sceptic.
Senior Ukrainian officials “were disturbed” when Trump announced “there would be no place for Pompeo, seen as more sympathetic [to Ukraine],” The Economist reported, which also quoted one of the officials as saying that it is “a very negative development.”
“The worry now is that Trump’s offer to Ukraine will come to resemble something closer to ideas put forward by J.D. Vance, the incoming vice president,” something that “would essentially rule out [Ukraine’s] NATO membership,” the report added.
In effect, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will not have a voice representing him in the Trump administration, unlike the current situation where his US counterpart Joe Biden is a fervent supporter and has wasted well over $100 billion on helping Ukraine’s war effort. As Ukrainian officials admit, there is already a shortage of manpower, and Russia is rapidly advancing, meaning that the inauguration of Trump to the US presidency shortly on January 20 – in the heart of winter – could not come at a worse time for the Kiev regime.
If there were one gleaming hope for Zelensky, it would be that a figure like Pompeo would have a position in the Trump administration. However, as it appears, there will be no prominent voice to defend Ukraine’s interests.
As temperatures continue to plummet in Ukraine, the situation by the time Trump becomes president again will be even worse than it is today, potentially forcing Zelensky to begin peace negotiations even without major coercion from the incoming administration.
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the problem for ukraine is that israel is now in the market for mercenaries. join the idf get €5,000 a week, german citizenship and a 10 percent chance of getting killed or badly wounded. join ukraine, get bumped for your pay of $1000 each week and face down the most formidable army the world has ever seen and have a 90 percent chance of getting killed or receiving a life changing injury with no compensation.
doubt very many will line up to join the jews, not even if the reward is 5000€! just too shameful and most people can see that the jews are finished.anyway. and the jews have no money!
ukraine still can’t “reconquer” donbas!!!
5rd rate ukro army…heheheh
my army never wins except in gay bar
soon, king zelensky will be shouting “a plane, a plane… my kingdom for a plane… outta here.”
once all the troops have bolted from the barn, one of zelensky’s aids will phone him from a safe place abroad and advise him to close the barn door.
there has to be a referendum in al russian speaking oblasts. the rest of ukraine has to become denazified dmz. but first take kharkov in semi encirclement and see what happens😉✌️🤫
fuck these ukrainian officials. end this shit and stop destroying the lives of ordinary ukrainians! you cynical assholes!
well if you finally realize you can’t go on the next natural step is to surrender you defunct nazis
the fun thing is that the poofs in washington dc are involved in two outright wars for the oldest reason, land and power, although the shy poofs prefer to stay on the sidelines for the time being. regardless, both stupid ventures are bound to fail, the jews will be exterminated (old jewish tradition) and the illegally occupied palestine returned to the rightful owners! and zelensky is already finished and russia has won! and the poofs stand there and can do nothing!
donald trump 2019 – “u.s. to send $250 million in lethal aid to ukraine”… “meet the new boss”!… “same as the old boss”!…. looking for a 9/11 fal$e flag to be blamed on russia sometime between now and january 21 coming from the “land of the freak, home of the $lave ” as always in 4… 3… 2… 1…
…because nobody replaces $usd (backed by “0”) as the world re$erve currency. and donald trump as he did in 2019 will be the same again in 2025. the casus belli will certainly help in greasing the skids… however the unfortunate side effect may mean the obliteration of western europe by russian nuclear ordnance and a sizeable chunk of north america!!!
so much for crypto currencies helping save king $$$ and working after a series of magnetic pulses ensuring that not only will they not work -but everything electronic around it including “light switches” will be down for a very… very… very… long time north, south east and west!…
russia still can’t “liberate” donbas!!!
3rd rate orc army…heheheh
derpster’s last stand. ten years since the ato was launched to ethnically cleanse donbas, resulting in the devastation of the failed ukrainian cia project. it really has turned out to be a disaster beyond the wildest imagination of most people at the time the us overthrew the ukrainian government in 2014.
maybe they will mutiny, refuse to fight, lay down arms, and surrender to russian forces and that will be the end of it.
my forces collapse in many gay bars where i see senile morons sawyer crummy canuck saxon ramses and gurki
milhares de soldados mortos todos os dias. o exército da ucrânia, não existe mais. o dna dos homens da ucrânia está quase acabando. um sêmen falido.
the rada just ordered khinzal pizza… time to deliver it russia, bitches don’t wanna negociate on an empty stomach now do they???
make sure they negociate with a full diaper…
atacms long range usa missiles will bomb red street in moscow soon, suprize attact zelensky planning, putin (no stay more) in kremlin why? because putin must hide from atacms long range usa, 300 mile distance range atacs can bomb from kursk to moscow 300 mile distance. decision joe biden wrong decision why ? because zelensky will bomb kursk (russian,korean troops with atacms missiles) and what happen next ? russian answer will be same , missiles russian will bomb usa in syria.