PARIS, November 26. /TASS/. The Ukrainian front is collapsing due to a rapid advance by the Russian army and a shortage of Ukrainian military personnel amid rampant desertion, French Le Point magazine said, citing anonymous Ukrainian servicemen.

According to its article, "the Ukrainian army lacks manpower, especially those willing to fight." Its sources say that the number of deserters among its ranks is growing, which "undermines the morale" of troops. "Retreating units and brigades do so with impunity. For this reason, the number of refusals to fight is growing," a Ukrainian soldier told the magazine.

Additionally, Ukraine "does not have enough weapons, munitions or hardware," the magazine said. "The [Ukrainian] government and General Staff had time since 2014 [to prepare trenches]. But the money disappeared," an unnamed military intelligence officer told Le Point. Ukrainian troops are surrounded and forced to retreat under heavy pressure from Russian forces, the magazine concluded.

On November 22, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russian forces are succeeding in the special military operation zone, accumulating combat experience and increasing their advance potential.

Earlier, Ukrainian General Dmitry Marchenko said that the Ukrainian front collapsed under the onslaught of Russian forces due to a tired military contingent and no one to back them up. In October, head of Ukraine’s Supreme Court Stanislav Kravchenko reported a significant upsurge in desertion and failure to carry out orders among Ukrainian troops. According to estimates by Ukrainian media outlets, the total number of deserters from the Ukrainian army has already reached 170,000.