MOSCOW, November 24. /TASS/. The Ukrainian army is now on the defensive, depleting resources along the entire frontline and is unable to fight intensively enough, former deputy defense minister, Anna Malyar has admitted.

"The task [of Russian forces] is to exhaust us completely and prepare for some further action. We should be aware of this. The military is aware of this, definitely. And we need to prepare for these things, to understand that we are not only on the defensive now, but that we are being systematically exhausted absolutely along the entire frontline," Malyar said in an interview with Liga.net.

She pointed out that the Ukrainian army was unable to conduct intensive fighting all the time.

"This is due to many things, but first of all to two key factors: our capabilities in terms of manpower and hardware. We are unable to maintain the intensity that would allow us to do what needs to be done. The Russians have more resources," Malyar stated. She added that while being on the defensive, the Ukrainian army was forced to deplete the weapons which the West "hands out by installments."

The Ukrainian army has been making unsuccessful offensive attempts since June 4. Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said on November 21 that since the beginning of the month, the Ukrainian military had lost more than 13,700 men and about 1,800 pieces of weapons and military equipment. The Russian side has repeatedly emphasized that Ukraine’s losses were heavy, but no significant results were achieved.

The Ukrainian authorities often present various excuses for the failure of the counter-offensive, on which Kiev and the Western countries had pinned great hopes. In particular, Ukraine has repeatedly accused NATO of insufficient supplies. The alliance’s officials replied that Kiev had everything it needed. In November, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky admitted that the army was showing insufficient results in the counteroffensive and that it was "difficult for it to remain strong."