Ukraine is suffering critical frontline manpower shortages as it clings on to control of a key eastern city, with some soldiers refusing to fight in the increasingly bloody battle, soldiers said.
Pokrovsk is now at the epicentre of Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s invasion, with a third of all frontline clashes happening in the area.
Soldiers fighting in Pokrovsk, in the Donetsk Oblast, told The i Paper it was now only a “matter of time” until the city falls.
One Ukrainian soldier currently in the Pokrovsk area said the shortage of military personnel was “very large”.
“There are not enough pilots, money and qualified people. That’s making it harder to hit Russians,” he said.
The existing manpower shortages are being exacerbated by desertions, which the soldier suggested were higher for Pokrovsk than any other battle – something The i Paper cannot independently verify.
“Many refuse to go to Pokrovsk,” he said, because it is so dangerous.
A Ukrainian soldier launches a reconnaissance drone near the frontline town of Pokrovsk in Donetsk, 6 October, 2025 (Photo: Reuters/Stringer/File Photo)Most of those who attempt to leave the front lines flee home and hide there, which is considered unauthorised abandonment of the unit, the soldier said. Desertion can result in prison sentences of five years.
Another Ukrainian soldier estimated that Ukraine had three to five times fewer forces than it needed.
“Nobody wants to go to the infantry, everyone wants to work behind the lines,” he told The i Paper. “Many people are refusing to go to Pokrovsk.”
Ukraine has recorded more than 250,000 cases of desertion since the Russian invasion, with 15,564 officially charged with the crime. These troops are in the minority of the reported 880,000-strong Ukrainian military, with hundreds of thousands more remaining in their posts despite the immense risks.
Artillerymen of the 152nd Separate Jaeger Brigade fire a howitzer towards Russian troops, near the frontline town of Pokrovsk in Donetsk region, Ukraine on 15 October, 2025 (Photo: Anatolii Stepanov/Reuters)Maria Berlinska, a Ukrainian volunteer with links to the military, said in October that each kilometre of the front line is guarded by an average of just four to seven Ukrainian soldiers.
Ukrainian men aged between 25 and 60 are eligible to be conscripted, after the country declared martial law following the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022. They are required to register their details on an electronic database, with officials stopping men on the street to check this has been done.
Ukraine has remained tightlipped about its casualty figures.
Sam Cranny-Evans, an associate fellow at defence think-tank RUSI, said that the impact of troop shortages varies by region, but that they were particularly acute because of the type of warfare being undertaken.
Members of a unit of Ukraine’s police who evacuate people from the frontline area check for residents in the town of Pokrovsk in May 2025 (Photo: Anatolii Stepanov/Reuters)“In urban fighting, you generally need quite a few personnel to cover all of the different angles and areas. Each house can become a small battle, and holding it requires people,” he said.
“If Ukraine is struggling with the number of personnel it has, which I understand it is, then it becomes difficult to stop Russian units infiltrating the town and getting around their positions.”
The weather is also hindering Ukraine’s ability to fight back against the Russian invasion. One Ukrainian drone pilot said fog was the “biggest obstacle” his unit was facing, making it hard to track and hit enemy targets.
A drone unit of the 7th Rapid Response Corps prepares equipment before their unit’s deployment to Pokrovsk, 4 November, 2025 (Photo: Thomas Peter/Reuters)Cranny-Evans added: “Bad weather is always an issue, it can impact the use of drones, crewed aircraft and most forms of optical reconnaissance. Artillery will still be effective as long as the observers can give accurate fire direction.”
But manpower shortages will be a more pressing issue, Cranny-Evans said.
“Drones don’t hold ground. They’re inherently ephemeral. They might swoop in and kill a few infantry or vehicles, but then they are gone, and the Russians can move forward,” he said. “Without infantry to hold the ground and fight back, it can become really difficult to keep holding ground.”
The Ukrainian military has been approached for comment.
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