Russia launched an overwhelming stance, a series of challenges besieged Ukraine

(Dan Tri) – The Ukrainian army faces a series of challenges in the war with Russia when Western aid efforts are interrupted.

Ukrainian soldiers fighting in Donetsk (Photo: Reuters).

As the war in Ukraine prepares to enter its third year, the 59th Brigade’s ground forces are facing a bleak reality: they are running out of soldiers and ammunition to deal with Russia.

A platoon commander nicknamed `Tygr` estimated that only about 60-70% of the brigade’s several thousand soldiers remained since the conflict began.

In addition to heavy casualties from fierce fighting with Russia, Ukrainian forces also faced harsh weather on the eastern front.

`It kept raining, snowing, then raining, snowing again. The soldiers got the flu or angina. They had to take a break from fighting for a while, but there was no one to replace them. The immediate problem for each unit was

In recent months, Russia has made progress on the battlefield.

A spokesman for Ukraine’s 3rd Independent Assault Brigade, one of the units trying to retake Avdiivka, said Ukrainian defenders outnumbered Russian attackers 1 to 7.

Reuters news agency spoke with more than 20 soldiers and commanders of Ukrainian infantry, drone and artillery units in different parts of the 1,000km long front line in the east and south.

While they remain motivated to fight Russia, they also acknowledge the challenges of holding off a larger and better-equipped opponent, amid slowing military support from the West despite

Another commander of the 59th Brigade, nicknamed Hryhoriy, described relentless attacks from groups of 5-7 Russian soldiers.

`When one or two defensive positions have to withstand these attacks all day, the soldiers will feel tired,` Hryhoriy said as he and his exhausted soldiers were ordered to move at intervals.

`Weapons are broken and if it is not possible to reload ammunition or change weapons, you can understand what this will lead to,` Hryhoriy added.

Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Ivan Havryliuk told Reuters that Ukraine was forced to go on the defensive due to a lack of artillery and rocket shells, and that Kiev expected Russia to increase its attacks on several fronts.

`If there is continued delay in providing necessary military aid, the situation at the front may become even more difficult for us,` Deputy Minister Havryliuk warned.

Kiev depends mainly on money and equipment from abroad to aid its war with Russia.

The Ukrainian army depends on equipment donated by the West (Photo: Reuters).

A soldier in the GRAD artillery unit said the unit uses Soviet-designed artillery shells that some of Ukraine’s allies possess.

`There is not much foreign ammunition,` Ukrainian soldiers admitted.

Artillery shells are also in short supply because Western countries cannot keep up with the pace of supply for a long war.

Michael Kofman, a military expert on Russia at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a Washington-based think tank, estimates that the rate of fire of Russian artillery is five times that of Ukraine.

`Ukraine does not receive enough artillery shells to meet its minimum defense needs and this is not a sustainable situation in the future,` said expert Kofman.

In a letter to the EU, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov recently referred to Ukraine’s shortage of artillery shells as a `serious` problem.

Although the front lines have largely stalled over the past 14 months, Russia still controls nearly a fifth of Ukraine, including the Crimean peninsula it annexed in 2014.

In addition to artillery, another battle is raging in the skies over Ukraine, as both sides try to gain the upper hand in drone technology.

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are produced cheaply and can monitor enemy movements and drop bombs with high precision.

Kiev has seen a boom in drone production and innovation, and is developing advanced, long-range drones, while Russia has outpaced its rivals with huge investments.

Digital Minister Mykhailo Fedorov confirmed that on the Ukrainian side alone, more than 300,000 drones were ordered by manufacturers last year and more than 100,000 were sent to the front.

Limuzyn, company commander of the 59th Brigade, said Russia’s widespread use of drones makes it difficult for the Ukrainian military to establish or reinforce fortified positions.

`Our forces began to take action. After the first drone detected the target, the second one was deployed to drop ammunition,` Limuzyn said.

As drone use grows, both sides are increasingly deploying electronic warfare systems that can disrupt the frequency of command transmissions from operators to drones, causing them to