Ukraine’s military has long had a problem with adequately training its new recruits, but now forward-based commanders are complaining that it has become a crisis, according to the Washington Post. Some recruits have never fired live ammunition or used a grenade. The lack of training is a major reason that draft-age men have left the country, knowing that, if they are drafted, they will be sent to the front lines (and sometimes behind enemy lines) with little training and no experience. They know that they will be the first to die. To address this fear of the lack of training in potential recruits, billboards now have appeared promising “60 days of preparation.”
Front line commanders have to spend weeks preparing their soldiers. Some commanders complain that some brigades get the first pick of the recruits, so other brigades are left with the “crooked, lame, and sick.” Recruiting standards have been lowered, where younger, or much older men, and even criminals are actively sought. Men over 50 years of age with bad knees or bad backs are considered “fit for duty,” even though it is known that the person will struggle just to be able to walk the miles that are sometimes necessary, loaded with gear and weapons.
One front line commander said: “We are just wasting a lot of time here on basic training. If, God forbid, there will be a breakthrough near Chasiv Yar, and we get new infantry that doesn’t know basic things, they will be sent there to just die.”
