Ukraine official says it can't properly use its Western kit because it has so few soldiers left, report says
- Ukraine's army is in dire need of manpower, an aide to its president told Time magazine.
- The lack of soldiers means Ukraine isn't able to make proper use of Western-provided gear, he said.
A Ukrainian official said Ukraine's army is suffering a manpower shortage that is hampering its ability to use Western-donated weapons, Time magazine reported.
Since the start of the war, several Ukrainian officials have blamed their difficulty repelling Russia's invasion on the slow pace of deliveries by its allies.
However, in the Time report, an unnamed source identified as a close aide to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy highlighted a different problem.
"We don't have the men to use them," the aide said in reference to the Western weapons.
Although Ukraine doesn't give public figures, Western estimates suggest it has suffered in excess of 100,000 casualties.
Time's report also noted that Ukraine is struggling to stop combat-age men fleeing the country.
Under the current legal regime of martial law, Ukrainian men aged 18 to 60 are not supposed to leave.
However, 6,100 fighting-age men have been caught trying to leave with forged documents, State Border Guard spokesman Andriy Demchenko told AFP in September.
One 21-year-old described to Insider trying to escape the draft taking an international train to Romania. He said he was stopped by police around 20 miles from the border and sent back.
As the war drags on, Ukrainian soldiers have expressed concern about running out of combat-capable fighters and being replaced by untrained ones, per the Kyiv Independent.
"If combat-capable people like us run out, we could only be replaced by people who don't know anything," one soldier with seven years' military experience told the outlet.
This is not the first time the Ukrainian army has faced personnel shortages.
In April, Ukraine already faced a dire need for more manpower to bolster its long-awaited counteroffensive following heavy casualties sustained during the battle of Bakhmut.