NEW YORK, May 22. /TASS/. The Ukrainian armed forces need to triple recruitment in order to carry out defensive operations, Foreign Affairs writes.

According to the magazine, the Ukrainian army "urgently needs more soldiers."

"Indecision in Kiev over a new mobilization drive has left combat units severely undermanned, their losses exacerbated by a failure to build defensive fortifications last year and by Russia’s widening firepower advantage. Military experts believe that the Ukrainian army needs to triple its intake of recruits to sustain defensive operations at current levels of fighting," Foreign Affairs notes.

Earlier, Dan Sabbagh, defense and security editor of The Guardian, pointed out that Russia’s advance in the Kharkov Region "raises serious questions" about Kiev’s ability to defend itself. According to the newspaper’s source, British intelligence agencies had warned the Ukrainian leadership about a Russian advance in the Kharkov area but "Ukraine’s defensive lines were thin to absent."