Ukraine Stocks Recruits, But Are They Prepared?/我的英語筆記

Lundi 19 août 2024/113.8.19(一)

Ukraine's campaign to replenish its war-weary troops is ramping up and should help fill personnel gaps on the front line in the coming weeks, according to Ukrainian officials, soldiers and military analysts. 

The mobilization push has so far not significantly bolstered Ukraine's forces on the battlefield, those people say. Many conscripts are still completing the weekslong training process and have yet to reach the front. And some recruits who have arrived are not physically fit for combat, members of Ukrainian units have noted.

But several brigades deployed on the battlefield have reported an increase in the number of conscripts they have received in recent weeks. They said they were hoping that the influx of soldiers would help Ukraine to stabilize the front line this summer.

Nazar Voytenkov, press officer for the 33rd Mechanized Brigade, said that his unit had "received more newbies this month" than they had at the beginning of the year. "And today I was told that more are coming to us," he added. 

The Ukrainian authorities have declined to share conscription figures, arguing that the information is confidential. Three military experts with knowledge of the figures said that Kyiv had been drafting up to 30,000 people a month since May, when a new conscription law took effect. That is two to three times more than during the last winter months, they said, and about the same number that the Russian army is recruiting each month. That figure could not be independently confirmed.

The experts spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the confidential numbers.

Troop shortages have been one of Ukraine's biggest problems on the battlefield for the past year. Russian forces have managed to break through weakened Ukrainian lines by overwhelming them with waves of ground assaults.

Ukrainian has struggled to recruit or draft more soldiers because of what critics say is a system mired in Soviet-style bureaucracy and corruption. Most Ukrainians also see basic training for conscripts as inadequate, a recent survey showed, leading some to avoid the draft, worried that they would not be prepared for combat.

To address the issue, the Ukrainian Parliament passed a law in April requiring all men under 60 to register at draft offices or online, with the goal of streamlining the mobilization process. The Defense Ministry said this month that 4.7 million had obliged. 

from 聯合報A11 紐約時報賞析113.8.17(六)烏克蘭廣募新兵，但有本事打硬仗嗎?

from 記者張佑生，說文解字看新聞

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