Troop shortage sapping morale, Ukraine’s President Zelensky says | BBC News

Troop shortage sapping morale, Ukraine’s President Zelensky says | BBC News

we begin in Ukraine where president zalinski has admitted that a lack of Manpower is sapping morale in the war against Russia he was speaking as new laws to boost Army Recruitment come into effect prisoners will now be allowed to join and fines have gone up for men who ignore the order to fight in a TV interview Mr zalinsky also said Ukraine has a quarter of the air defenses it needs to hold the front line against Russia here’s a clip of the Ukrainian president talking about the new law on Military recruitment we need to staff the reserves there are a serious number of brigades which a large number of them are empty we need to do this so the guys can have a normal rotation then their morale will be improved well let’s speak to our Ukraine correspondent James Waterhouse who is in ke for us James good to have you now When The War Began there were so many recruits volunteering what is the morale like now it’s a very different chapter of this war really since the early stages of the The fullscale Invasion where you have Ukrainian forces uh which are thought to make up around half a million Personnel uh either fighting on the front line or in operations around it you now have a large proportion of those who are exhausted who have been fighting for the best part of two years with little to no rest and then you have men either avoiding or fearful of the draft being legally compelled to fight and join the country’s cause uh and so it’s incredibly difficult for Ukraine at a time when we are seeing fighting in the Northeast uh in towns and settlements close to the Russian border and an area where there is really intense fighting which makes up more than 300 Square kilm it’s a real departure from the trench Warfare we’ve seen after the year over the past 18 months and president zilinski acknowledges this you know he’s saying that morale is low I think for Ukraine to openly be admitting that its troops are overstretched uh and struggling is a sign of how serious things are at the moment and they are hoping for two things to take effect firstly a controversial mobilization law where it hopes enough men will be able to join the fight and slow that Russian advance but it’s also hoping that will be combined with billions tens of billions of dollars worth of American ammunition and weaponry um but at the moment it is a time delay that is seeing Russia take more and more territory and that’s only increasing the political pressure here on Kev well to that point James we’re also hearing warnings from president zalinski about air defenses and their supply what is it that president zalinski is is asking for from his allies you’ve just said it I mean it’s air defenses have been top of the list over and over he prioritizes that over tanks fighter jets armored vehicles ammunition everything else but he’s sort of really Quantified his needs he says the reason the Russians have been advancing in the Northeast is because he has a quarter his forces have a quarter of the air defenses they need and we’re not just talking about protecting cities uh it also means challenging Russia’s a superiority because they’ve dropped thousands of guide bombs uh Glide bombs from fighter jets almost unchallenged across many parts of the front line and at the moment he is struggling to get what he needs in that regard he also says he needs at least 120 F-16 fighter jets which have been promised by Western allies but as of now uh none are thought to be uh being used operationally so you know president zinski really sees this as a gap in his Armory um because we’re also seeing people being Ed to be a ration energy now there are planned blackouts once more thermal power stations and and and and water stations are being hit once more it really does feel like Ukraine is less able to defend defend itself not least when you look at the percentage of Russian missiles that are that are being intercepted this time last year it was a majority a vast majority that were taken out by air defense systems now it’s around half and those that do get through can cause real damage James thank thank you for that update

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has admitted that a lack of military manpower is sapping its forces’ morale.

He was speaking as new laws to boost army recruitment come into effect.

Prisoners will now be allowed to join, and fines have gone up for men who ignore the order to fight.

Ukraine’s forces are short on weapons and are trying to shore up a weakened front line. They are facing growing military pressure from Russia, which has made its largest territorial gains in the country in 18 months.

Subscribe here: http://bit.ly/1rbfUog

For more news, analysis and features visit: www.bbc.com/news

#BBCNews