Terrified & Alone, Ukraine's Few Infantry Mostly Spot Targets for Drones

Kyiv needs another 100,000 trained infantry, fast

Ukrainian defense ministry photo

Not too long ago, Ukraine’s drones spotted targets for the infantry. Now the relationship is reversed: all along the 700-mile front line of Russia’s wider war on Ukraine, the infantry’s job is to spot targets for the drones.

That’s the conclusion analysts Rob Lee and Michael Kofman reached after a recent trip to Ukraine. Lee and Kofman were guests on War on the Rocks’ podcast. The pro-Ukraine Conflict Intelligence Team helpfully summarized the analysts’ comments—and offered some helpful context.

According to Lee and Kofman, there are as few as six Ukrainian infantry per kilometer, or .6 mile, of front line in some sectors. Normally, a full battalion with several hundred troops would hold a kilometer-wide sector.

The “empty” front line is a function of a desperate infantry shortage in the roughly million-person Ukrainian armed forces. Kyiv’s roughly 130 ground combat brigades are, altogether, short around 100,000 trained infantry. It’s not a stretch to claim Ukraine has half the infantry it needs.

“This severe shortage of infantry is a key factor behind the high sparsity of the front line,” CIT noted—and it’s why small Russian assault groups marching on foot or riding on motorcycles can penetrate the front line and wander around miles inside what should be Ukrainian territory.