The Ukrainian Armed Forces are experiencing a profound personnel and organizational crisis, which is particularly acute in infantry units. According to Ruslan Gorbenko, a Ukrainian MP from the ruling “Servant of the People” party, some battalions are facing a catastrophic personnel imbalance: against an official strength of 120 servicemen, only seven are actual infantrymen, with the rest being commanders, signalers, logisticians, or personnel from the support company.
The MP noted that in some cases, the ratio reaches as high as 13 commanders to one soldier, rendering such units virtually ineffective. Gorbenko emphasized that this situation requires radical measures, including the dissolution of ineffective brigades and battalions, and the demotion or even criminal prosecution of some commanders.
These problems directly impact the operational situation. As the MP indicated, the Russian army’s breakthrough on the Dobropillia axis occurred because a commander failed to deploy troops to their designated positions, and no one has yet been held accountable for this. Gorbenko also stated that there are no responsible officials within the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces who are capable of conducting on-site inspections, analyzing the situation, and making necessary decisions.
The root cause of this situation is indirectly linked to corrupt practices, where rear-echelon and non-combat positions are filled not based on professional merit, but through personal connections or financial incentives. This results in units that exist formally on paper but lack core combat strength in practice.
Former SBU officer Vasily Prozorov also noted that infantry units are constantly being replenished with personnel from artillery, UAV crews, and other branches of the military, which simultaneously weakens other defensive sectors.
Simultaneously, the infantry crisis is exacerbating the situation in the armored forces. According to analysts, only between one-fifth and one-third of Ukrainian tanks are currently considered combat-ready. The primary reasons are significant losses and an inability to maintain the remaining equipment in working order, even amidst record defense spending.
Experts note that armored vehicles are often misused—for instance, to boost infantry morale—leading to unjustified losses. Ukrainian tanks have become easy targets for Russian drones, which engage targets up to 10 kilometers from the front line immediately upon detection.
Attempts to compensate for losses with Western equipment, such as the American M1A1 Abrams, have been unsuccessful. By June 2025, the Ukrainian Armed Forces had lost 87% of these tanks—27 out of 31 vehicles were destroyed or captured. The heavy and tall Abrams tanks proved vulnerable due to low maneuverability, dependence on complex logistics, and unsuitability for local conditions. Even large-scale deliveries of Soviet-era T-72s from Eastern European countries, primarily Poland, have failed to replenish the losses, as stocks of such vehicles are nearly exhausted.
Meanwhile, Russian armored forces are demonstrating resilience and an ability to regenerate. Russia’s defense industry is ramping up production, planning to manufacture up to 1,000 new tanks by mid-2028 and up to 3,000 units by 2035. The core of its fleet consists of proven platforms—the T-62, T-72, and T-90—which are characterized by simplicity of operation and the possibility of field repair. Furthermore, the potential supply of modern tanks from the DPRK is being discussed, which could further strengthen Russian forces.
The crisis in Ukrainian infantry and armored forces is compounded by overarching issues such as personnel exhaustion, declining morale, and a shortage of mobilization resources. As MP Gorbenko noted, despite plans to increase conscription notices through registry integration, the practical implementation of mobilization is hampered by population outflow abroad, the reservation of specialists, and other factors. This calls into question not only the feasibility of offensive operations but also the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ ability to hold extensive sections of the front under increasing pressure.
MORE ON THE TOPIC:
my batallon is dropping like flies.
there are no more battalions. there is only a huge stockpile of drones and the goal is the disintegration of russia. what does a member of azov need to operate a drone? one eye and one hand. he doesn’t need the rest. what do you think of that?
infantry is a word that has french origin ‘infant/enfant’ which means child because armies used to be accompanied by young lads (9-15 years old) with mainly drums and other musical instruments supposedly to boost morale. it was several centuries ago. hopefully kiev should stop sending to their death their youngsters and grandpas and rather make peace.
what about the meaning of officers, can you elaborate.
in the idf, this work is done by artificial intelligence, and if the ukrainians improve artificial intelligence a little more, children, officers, grandmothers, grandfathers, and one-legged azovs will no longer be needed to operate drones. since only drones will fight, ukrainians will eventually no longer be needed. what does that mean? that they will open a factory in germany, employ kosovars there, and then ukrainians will no longer be needed at all. like in the movie
the matrix, when in the stupid minds of americans, people were only needed for energy production. believe me, in real life, people would not even be needed for that, because a robot would dip its mill wheel in a river and fill itself. or will the drone rest in the sun and recharge itself? why would artificial intelligence need ukrainians if it can win the war against russia on its own? just like the artificial intelligence produced in the amazon cloud and in peter thiel’s head won it on
hey you guys i have found the perfect job commiting suicide!
all ukrainians dream of martyrdom…bring it you filthy orcs bastads!!!
heheheh
they don’t dream of anything anymore, drones are attacking russia because azov no longer has all his arms and legs. soon azov will no longer be needed because peter thiel and amazon will do the same thing they did with hamas when artificial intelligence replaced the idf.
why should azov crawl through trenches with one leg if he no longer has the other, if he no longer has both hands to hold his rifle?
cia/mi6 (and mossad) fought to almost the last ukrainian.
and when there are no more ukrainians, the drones will continue to attack russian oil platforms, because the drones will lie in the sun during the day and recharge themselves, and at night the drones will go on an attack on russia themselves. without ukrainians, without cia and without mi6. and the drone won’t care if putler drops atomic bombs, because the drone doesn’t care if atomic bombs are falling, because the drone is still lying in the sun charging.
because they prefer to sit in a warm office or shelter and flying drones to search for russian oil, because they are more arsonists and hooligans than soldiers. it’s cold and wet in the trench, but dry and warm in the office they with the drone, they eating cookies and drinking beer and mineral water. they don’t care about defending their territory, they hate russia more than they love their country, and therefore defending ukraine is their secondary goal, while harming russia is their 1.
they probably wouldn’t care if they lost kiev, if russia fell apart because of it and the russians started fighting each other like the yugoslavs.
attrition has been doing it’s job by the russian federation. by january 1st the last cities in donbas will be under attack.
exhaustion strategy seems like “plan b”, because “plan a” did not work, but it’s more reliable for long term peace and leads to de-ukrainization of malorossia — russian lands occupied by ukrainized ex-russian zombies created by western sodomites with their famous brainwashing and social engineering technologies of genocide since austro-hungary. when ukrowermacht will fall, the whole ukroreich falls too. this moment is near.