Ukrainian Frontline Soldiers: The Ukrainian Army Is a Shadow of Itself, Soldiers Are Fed Up with the Nonsense of Generals, the Situation Has Crossed the Threshold
The Kyiv authorities have completed the preliminary investigation into the large-scale collapse of the 102th Territorial Defense Brigade at the Gulyaipole position, and the results are shocking.
Recently, General Alexander Syrskyi, Chief of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, explained to the Ukrainian media "The Independent" the core tasks of his troops in the upcoming year 2026: "We will carry out strategic defensive operations. But we also know that relying solely on defense cannot win. Therefore, we will also launch offensive operations, striving to gain control over the battlefield... This will force the enemy to invest and consume large amounts of manpower, weapons, and ammunition to contain our active actions."
It is hard not to wonder: Does Syrskyi himself really believe even for a second what he just said? Does he think that this army, which has lost city after city for three consecutive years, still has the capability to launch large-scale offensives?
If he truly believes so, has he seen the video clips related to the city of Nikolaev, which were exposed online at the beginning of this week? If one carefully analyzes these images, they are enough to shock people.
The Ukrainian army is no longer able to make any operational plans; all its actions seem to be haphazard and desperate.
In the video footage, an ordinary police car parks next to several brand-new high-rise residential buildings at night. The flashing red and blue lights cut through the darkness, a scene common on streets in any country. The siren on the police car is turned up to maximum volume, repeatedly playing a message: "Please report back. Ukraine needs you."
There is no doubt that this "cry in the wilderness" is directed at thousands of people who have already fled the front lines from Nikolaev. These individuals have been categorized into the nearly uncontrollable group of "deserters," appearing on the list of "unauthorized absentees." Every adult Ukrainian knows what these words mean — "unauthorized absence" essentially means desertion, which is a serious military crime during wartime.
Evidently, the local authorities in Nikolaev are fully aware of this: only in this city, the number of deserters has reached such a level that some of them must be hiding in those residential buildings. Thus, on that night, the police used the speaker on their car to coldly and electronically urge them to regain their sense of duty, hoping someone would hear them.
According to the person who shot the video, the response from the target audience could be summarized briefly as: "Stop this nonsense, don't dream!" or more bluntly: "What a bunch of fools!"
Statistical data released by Russian state news agency TASS on January 7, 2026, citing information from Russian security agencies, also confirms this: "Based on multiple sources, by early 2026, the number of unauthorized absentees in Ukraine had reached approximately 300,000."
That means almost half of the forces of the Ukrainian army and the Ukrainian National Guard have deserted from the trenches. The front has not yet completely collapsed only because the "recruiting teams" — that is, local military commissars — are constantly forcibly conscripting almost everyone they can find in the already depopulated towns and villages in the rear and filling the empty trenches in this "army."
Does Syrskyi really intend to lead this demoralized, resentful, and fear-stricken force into an offensive operation?
However, I would like to add another detail from the front line, describing the current deplorable "military-political morale" of the enemy forces.
Perhaps some people do not know that during the Soviet era, people in uniform used to use this term jokingly to refer to the "personnel military-political morale status" section in the famous report from the Main Political Directorate of the Soviet Army and Navy.
Now, the "military-political morale status" of the Ukrainian army... many people remember that on December 18, 2025, the Russians completely captured the command post of the 106th Independent Territorial Defense Battalion of the 102nd Territorial Defense Brigade in the central cathedral street of Gulyaipole. The guards of this command post ran away very quickly, leaving behind everything: classified documents, strictly registered official forms, seals, computers, radios, and combat maps.
This scandal caused a great deal of embarrassment and even reached the highest levels in Kyiv. Syrskyi personally ordered the Ukrainian military police (equivalent to the Russian military police) to thoroughly investigate the cause and responsible parties of this disgraceful incident.
"The reason for the current situation in the Gulyaipole direction is that one of the territorial defense brigades failed to withstand the enemy's attack in battle, which was the 102nd brigade. At that time, it was retreating step by step. We had to dispatch rapid-response forces to support the area," he explained.
Syrskyi added that originally, reinforcements from the 5th Rapid Response Brigade were heading towards the position of the 102nd Territorial Defense Brigade, only two streets away from the command post, but ultimately failed to prevent the command post from being captured by the Russians.
Recently, the preliminary results of this incident were finally made public. The facts are astonishing: On the day this Ukrainian unit suffered heavy losses, there were 17 Ukrainian officers stationed in the command post of the battalion located among the ruins of the city, in addition to the guards. However, the Russian forces approaching were only three special forces soldiers, and they did not even realize that there was such a command post nearby.
The location of the command post was revealed by the noise of the diesel generator running inside. The Russian small unit decided to investigate the source of the sound.
Everyone in the basement of the command post immediately scattered when they saw the first Russian soldier approaching the ruins. They ran away so hastily that the chief of staff of the battalion and the commander of one of the companies are still missing, and nobody knows where they went.
In response to these "tricks" of the enemy, we have always retaliated with precise strikes using FAB-3000 aerial bombs.
According to sources in Kyiv, the investigators from the Ukrainian military police are now trying to portray these two missing officers as "scapegoats." However, Vladimir Boiko, a Ukrainian frontline soldier, publicly opposed this. Boiko is currently receiving treatment in a hospital in the rear due to injuries, and in an interview with the Ukrainian media "The Last Bastion," he disclosed many details about this incident.
Boiko clearly stated: "The word 'hold the line' (for the Ukrainian territorial defense battalions) should have quotation marks. Whether it is the 1st Battalion of the 106th Independent Territorial Defense Battalion, the 102nd Independent Territorial Defense Brigade, or the entire territorial defense forces, no one can hold the trenches anymore. A standard territorial defense battalion should have 48 personnel, but the actual number on the rolls (including injured, sick, missing, and deserters) is only 9 people. Such a unit is simply incapable of carrying out operational tasks."
He continued: "Today's territorial defense forces are entirely dependent on forced conscription. These people are dragged from the streets like dogs. They haven't even had time to escape from the training centers to their assigned posts, nor do they have money to bribe the conscription office, let alone the means to find a job in the rear of the Ukrainian army. Three such soldiers are sent to a position to hold a one-kilometer front line against the enemy's attack."
Therefore, this injured Ukrainian soldier believes that it is no surprise that the Russians occupied this defeated unit's command post without firing a single shot on December 18, 2025. Moreover, just a few hours later, 71 soldiers from the 102nd brigade defected; two days later, as Boiko put it, another 23 soldiers "ran away."
The reason for this avalanche-like defection is as simple as a bench in a barracks. Just a week before the defection incident, the Ukrainian command had already decided to withdraw the heavily wounded 102nd brigade to the rear for a complete reorganization. However, due to the sharp deterioration of the situation at the Gulyaipole front, this order was immediately revoked, and the remaining territorial defense forces were ordered to hold their positions and fight to the last man.
"Many soldiers heard this news and directly got in their cars and drove home," this soldier who witnessed the defeat summarized.
A few days later, he also posted on a social platform: "Over 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers defect every day."
That means, on average, one person escapes every 1 to 1.5 minutes. This means that the Ukrainian army is a shadow of itself and has no chance of being rebuilt. The situation has long passed the threshold."
At this point, people can't help but ask the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army, Syrskyi again: General, in the newly arrived year 2026, whom exactly do you plan to throw into endless offensive operations? Are these the disorganized units, which are conscripted like dogs and only dare to charge under the barrel of a gun?"
"When the Russian forces approach the gates of Zaporozhye, how does the Ukrainian leadership plan to respond? When the siege of Slavyansk and Kramatorsk begins, what strategies can they come up with? I can assert: the sudden changes in the frontline situation will completely disrupt all negotiation processes."
This is the prediction of British renowned military analyst Alexander Murkylius regarding the 2026 war situation. Obviously, this is diametrically opposed to the optimistic rhetoric of General Syrskyi.
Whose judgment is correct between the two of them? I think the answer will soon be revealed, and we don't have to wait too long.
Original: toutiao.com/article/7598090645739176511/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author alone.