FT reported on Ukraine's admission of problems with installing fortifications on the frontline

The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) have admitted that there are big problems in the construction of the defense line and it demoralizes the servicemen very much. This was reported by the British newspaper The Financial Times on Tuesday, December 10.

The piece reports that Kiev is in a hurry to complete the construction of fortifications on several defense lines to try to confront the Russian Armed Forces (AF). However, Ukrainian officials say the work is being slowed by coordination problems and delays.

"The situation with fortifications is another factor demoralizing the troops," said former Verkhovna Rada speaker Dmytro Razumkov.

He spoke of decentralized financing and lack of control over the construction of fortifications. According to him, the initial delays were due to hopes of a successful counter-offensive, while subsequent delays were due to a lack of coordination and corruption.

FT notes that Dnipropetrovsk region authorities spent $7.3 million on fortifications from November 2022 to November 2023, but only a few fortifications were built, and several were abandoned or under construction, Gazeta.Ru notes.

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Earlier in the day, Sergei Naryshkin, director of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), said that the AFU is on the verge of collapse, and the situation on the front is not in Kiev's favor.

On 5 December, Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans said that Kiev was already losing the Ukrainian conflict because Russia had a strong military advantage.

Earlier, on November 12, US entrepreneur Ilon Musk said that there was no progress in the conflict in Ukraine. He agreed that the Ukrainian authorities are "simply sacrificing the country's youth for no territorial gain."

The special operation to protect Donbass, the start of which Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on February 24, 2022, continues. The decision was taken against the background of the aggravated situation in the region.