The Ukrainian military lacks tanks, armoured vehicles, as well as ammunition to capture Russian defensive lines and is bound to suffer significant losses in assault operations, The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing a rifle-unit commander, code-named Vados.
To seize Russian positions, the Ukrainian artillery should first shell the area, then advance using armored vehicles, the serviceman said, admitting that this course of action is difficult to put into practice due to a shortage of tanks and armored vehicles. A similar sentiment was voiced by the soldiers the newspaper spoke to, who said that Ukraine's lack of armored vehicles stalls the offensive.
The report also said that Ukraine did not have enough ammunition to "flatten Russian-held villages."
Vados told the newspaper that in the month since the start of the offensive, he has not participated in a single operation that successfully captured a Russian position. Meanwhile, soldiers on the southern front told the newspaper that a unit could lose "dozens" of soldiers in one assault.
A number of Western media noted the weak results of Kiev's offensive, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky himself admitted that progress was "slower than desired."