DONETSK, March 22. /TASS/. The Ukrainian military command is leaving poorly trained mobilized soldiers at the frontline and withdrawing combat-fit units into the depth of the country to preserve them amid the advance by Russian troops, Yan Gagin, adviser to the DPR (Donetsk People’s Republic) head, said on Friday.
"The crisis of the call-up resource in Ukraine has come to a point that now basically mobilized personnel are on the front. Moreover, these soldiers have been mobilized quite recently. These are completely poorly trained people. The Ukrainian military command is, of course, trying to preserve some battle-worthy units and withdraw them somewhere. But, first of all, there are few of them and, secondly, it has to be taken into account that our troops do not stand idle - both our artillery and the Aerospace Forces are at work," the adviser said in a live broadcast on the Rossiya-1 television channel.
The Ukrainian military command understands that the personnel left at the frontline are doomed. Such decisions aim to slow the advance by Russian troops. Today Ukraine "is suffering a total defeat at the frontline" and in some areas, Ukrainian soldiers are fleeing, Gagin said, citing the Avdeyevka direction as an example.
Since February this year, Russian troops have liberated some communities in the Donetsk People’s Republic, in particular, Avdeyevka, Lastochkino, Petrovskoye, Severnoye, Nevelskoye and Tonenkoye.