Ukraine Is Adding Force Structure But Not Adding Troops. That Means Empty Brigades.
Politics trump sound strategy.
Ukraine’s infantry shortage was bad in 2023, worse in 2024, dire in 2025 and, in 2026, so deep and enduring that it’s the main driver of the Ukrainian ground forces’ doctrine and technology.
“Ukraine faces manpower shortage and still does not have a single brigade that is fully manned,” analyst Giorgi Revishvili wrote. So why are the Ukrainians still forming new brigades?
Shrugging off what Militaryland.net’s Jerome Rendall described as “severe manpower and equipment shortages across existing formations,” Ukrainian commander-in-chief Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi recently announced the creation of three new brigades: the 50th, 55th and 167th Mechanized Brigades.
On paper, each brigade should have at least 2,000 troops plus a hundred or so armored vehicles. In practice, the brigades will be small and under-equipped—and they’ll draw much of their manpower from existing units that are themselves already under-strength. The 50th Mechanized Brigade is taking troops from the 72nd Mechanized Brigade, the 93rd Mechanized Brigade and the 420th Unmanned Systems Battalion.
This poaching guarantees all of the roughly 150 brigades in the Ukrainian ground forces will continue to suffer shortages.
