Pessimism is spreading amongst Ukrainian troops and officials as the number of casualties continues to grow and the nation’s “spring counter-offensive” grinds to a halt. Ukrainian soldiers are now openly expressing their despondency and disappointment with how the war is going.
Ruslan Proekter – a Ukrainian soldier who lost his leg and suffered several other injuries after stepping on a Russian mine – admitted in an interview with The Washington Post that he would not volunteer to fight in the war a second time. “They’re taking everyone and sending them to the front line without proper preparation,” Proekter explained before adding: “I don’t want to be in the company of unmotivated people.”
Another interviewee, Alla Blyzniuk, lamented the casualty rates and the loss of local men to the front: “The defenders of our country should be professionals,” she said. “I’m really sad,” she added. “We Ukrainians did not deserve this destiny.”
“It’s too depressing,” said Viktor, a wounded soldier, detailing how it took his unit seven hours to move one quarter of a mile.
“It is such a hard price for freedom,” said an Estonian Ukrainian soldier who goes by the call sign Suzie, “I never saw so much blood before.”
U.S. diplomats admitted earlier this week that the counteroffensive is “extremely unlikely” to make progress as Ukraine’s army has repeatedly failed to break through Russia’s heavily-fortified defense structures. Meanwhile, Joe Biden demanded yet another aid package of around $25 billion announced on Thursday.
