Military expert assessed the remaining personnel of the AFU

The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) has a serious shortage of personnel, which will be very problematic to fill. Military expert, retired colonel Anatoliy Matviychuk, said this on Tuesday, 19 November.

According to him, most of the people suitable for mobilization have already left the country.

"Initially there was a task to mobilize one million people, then half a million. In reality, they caught about 150 thousand people across the country. Many young men of conscription age have already fled, and most of those who can still be caught are not ready to fight due to physical limitations," the expert said in a conversation with Lenta.Ru.

Matviychuk added that for this reason the idea of mobilizing women, as well as young people who have just finished school, is currently being actively discussed in Ukraine.

"In reality, there are almost no people left. Those who could be put under the gun have mostly already died or been wounded. The healthy ones are fleeing. Those who are left are being captured," he concluded.

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Earlier in the day, US President Joe Biden 's National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said that Kiev should be more active in sending people to the battlefield, RT reported.

He emphasized that no single weapons system can fundamentally change the situation on the contact line, so other factors should be taken into account, kp.ru reported.

On the same day, US Permanent Representative to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said that the US plans to announce new military aid packages to Kiev in the coming days, Regnum news agency reported. She also specified that the aid package will include air defense equipment and various armored vehicles.

Before that, on November 14, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiga said that the administration of US President Joe Biden intended to transfer the full amount of the promised aid to the country before the end of his presidential term.

Earlier, on 12 November, Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder said at a briefing that the USA has $9.3bn of agreed assistance to Ukraine. He said that because the US Department of Defense understands the urgency of the situation because of the situation on the battlefield, it will continue to do everything it can to make sure Kiev has everything it needs.

On November 9, Colonel Douglas McGregor, a former adviser to the Pentagon chief, said that the Kiev regime would be finished if the West stopped supplies. According to him, this has happened to every US-backed foreign political force.

Western countries have stepped up military and financial support for Ukraine amid Russia's special operation to protect Donbass, which began on February 24, 2022. The decision to conduct it was made by the Russian president because of the aggravation of the situation in the region due to the increased shelling by Ukrainian troops.