As the Ukraine war enters its third year, the infantry of 59th Brigade are confronting a bleak reality: they’re running out of soldiers and ammunition to resist their Russian invaders.
On the cusp of the second anniversary of its Feb. 24 invasion, Vladimir Putin’s Russia is in the ascendancy in a conflict that combines attritional trench combat reminiscent of the First World War with high-tech drone warfare that’s sending tens of thousands of machines into the skies above. Another commander in the 59th Brigade, who only gave his first name Hryhoriy, described relentless attacks from groups of five to seven Russian soldiers who would push forward up to 10 times a day in what he called “meat assaults” – highly costly to the Russians but also a major threat to his troops.
Kyiv relies heavily on money and equipment from abroad to fund its war effort, but with $61-billion in U.S. aid held up by political bickering in Washington it is looking more exposed than at any time since the start of the invasion. Moscow now controls almost a fifth of Ukrainian territory including the Crimea peninsula it annexed in 2014, even if the front lines of the war have largely stagnated in the last 14 months.
Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov recently referred to Ukraine’s artillery ammunition deficit as “critical” in a letter to the European Union, urging its national leaders to do more to bolster supplies. Kyiv has overseen a boom in drone production and innovation and is developing advanced, long-range UAVs, while Moscow has more than matched its rival with huge investments of its own, allowed it to nullify Ukraine’s early advantage.On the Ukrainian side alone, more than 300,000 drones were ordered from producers last year and more than 100,000 sent to the front, digital minister Mykhailo Fedorov told Reuters.
Drones have also forced the Russians to move valuable vehicles and weapons systems back by several kilometres, according to two Ukrainian drone pilots in different units.
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