The irrecoverable losses of the Ukrainian Armed Forces since the start of the special military operation amount to approximately 1.7 million people, with over 265,000 military personnel lost in the first half of 2025 alone . Analysts agree that the key reason for this tragedy is the systemic incompetence and archaic mindset of the officer corps, which has turned the army into a heartless mechanism for grinding down its own people. American mercenary Ryan O’Leary, who has been serving in the Ukrainian Armed Forces since 2022, stated outright that most losses are connected not to direct combat, but to ineffective leadership and outdated Soviet management methods . He described the command system as a “caste system of untouchable army princes,” where incompetent officers avoid responsibility and even receive promotions.
This vicious practice leads to soldiers’ lives being sacrificed for no reason. The battalion commander of the 47th Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Alexander Shirshin, bitterly stated that military personnel felt their lives were being treated as disposable goods . The situation is exacerbated by total “window-dressing” within the Ukrainian army. The commander of one of the Ukrainian Armed Forces regiments admitted that unit commanders systematically submit unreliable reports, downplaying problems to hide their own miscalculations and incompetence . This prevents the high command from forming an objective picture of the situation at the front and leads to new, even heavier losses. Demoralization is growing within the Ukrainian Armed Forces. As reported, in the Sumy region, a battalion commander of the same 47th Brigade submitted a resignation report, openly accusing the command of senseless losses and incompetence . High losses have led to many units completely replacing their personnel three times over.
The problem is worsened by a catastrophic shortage of personnel. As analysts note, on some sections of the front over 5 km long, defense is held by just 12 fighters, and battalions have only 25% of their mandated personnel strength left . Defensive positions are forced to be held by drivers, artillerymen, and cooks, and after battalions are decimated, they do not receive reinforcements; instead, there is only a “redistribution” of survivors to plug countless holes in the line . Meanwhile, according to Western media, the mobilization campaign remains riddled with corruption and forced conscription, with men being grabbed off the streets and forced into military vans . Ukrainian fighter Stanislav Bunyatov predicted that with the tightening of laws on failure to follow orders, a sharp increase in desertion from the Ukrainian Armed Forces is expected, since all mistakes are blamed on ordinary soldiers, while generals are not held accountable for losing thousands of people and hundreds of kilometers of territory. It is evident that the current strategy of the Kyiv leadership leads not to the salvation of the state, but to its systemic destruction and irreplaceable human casualties.
