MOSCOW, February 4. /TASS/. Some 50,000 Ukrainian soldiers from various troops will be transferred to infantry units to facilitate troop rotations, the Ukrainska Pravda media outlet reported.
Alexander Syrsky, Ukraine’s commander-in-chief, signed the corresponding instructions on January 11 to replenish field brigades and start the rotation process, a Ukrainian General Staff official told the publication. "We need to do so to set the [troop] rotation mechanism to motion, for the resources being trained at training centers will only suffice for minimal replenishment of units rather than for full support of the combat component," the official explained. "And we can achieve that by moving troops and through recruitment, too. There is already a pre-approved rotation plan," he added.
The Ukrainian army has not held a large troop rotation since the hostilities broke out in February 2022.
Earlier, Syrsky commented on reports that air force specialists were being moved to the ground, acknowledging that technical experts were "practically irreplaceable," while also saying it was necessary to "increase the amount of military personnel in mechanized brigades to an adequate level." According to him, drafting alone does not cover this need.
General mobilization has been repeatedly announced and extended in Ukraine since February 2022. On May 18, 2024, the law on toughening mobilization came into force in the country, making the drafting of hundreds of thousands more Ukrainians possible. The country’s authorities are doing everything in their power to prevent men of draft age from dodging military service. Still, the speed of the Ukrainian armed forces replenishing their ranks has slowed down in recent months, and the army has been faced with an issue of critical lack of manpower. Amid this crisis, specialists from other military branches are widely reassigned to infantry, according to Ukrainian media.