Russia is stepping up pressure at the front, and Ukraine is facing a shortage of resources – NYT

The Russian offensive is intensifying, and this is aggravating internal problems within the Ukrainian army in various sectors of the front.

This is reported by The New York Times.

According to the outlet, the situation is not yet critical, but it is gradually deteriorating, creating a risk that the defense may buckle.

In the Donetsk sector, Ukrainian units are experiencing exhaustion and difficulties holding their positions. Fighters in the Pokrovsk area say that since September “the line has just started to crumble from exhaustion.” The Russian army is using massive waves of strike and reconnaissance drones, while Ukraine has no comparable serial production. This creates a technological gap that complicates the defense.

In the Lyman area, Ukrainian soldiers report round-the-clock attacks. According to Captain Oleh Voitsekhovskyi, strikes come “all the time” and “from every direction.” Continuous shelling and drone attacks, combined with harsh weather conditions, reduce the effectiveness of Ukraine’s own reconnaissance and defensive actions.

In Pokrovsk, the situation has become a symbol of the overload on Ukrainian forces. The National Guard reports sharply increased losses and an inability to promptly evacuate bodies. Local fighters describe the city as a place where “civilian bodies and military bodies are mixed together, with no way to retrieve them.” Against this backdrop, the question arises whether it makes sense to continue defending the city — some analysts believe that Kyiv is holding on to Pokrovsk at the cost of heavy casualties, fearing that its loss would strengthen Russia’s narrative about the inevitability of its victory.

At the same time, the concentration of forces in the Pokrovsk sector has led to vulnerabilities elsewhere. In the Zaporizhzhia region, Russian troops advanced by roughly 75 square miles around Huliaipole in November — nearly 40% of all their territorial gains for the month. Ukraine has redeployed reserves there, but analysts describe the pace of the advance as “alarming.”

The overarching problem is a shortage of manpower and resources. Russia is using its numerical superiority and willingness to accept heavy losses. Ukrainian soldiers point to a stark imbalance: “If we have three people, they have 30.” Drones are turning a wide strip of the front into a “kill zone” up to 15 miles deep, limiting maneuverability and slowing any movement by Ukrainian units.

Although the front is still holding, NYT notes mounting pressure: exhaustion, personnel shortages, technological lag in drones, and the need to defend several difficult sectors at once.

Against this background, Moscow continues to press at the negotiating table precisely because it sees Ukraine’s positions weakening, the newspaper concludes.