Ukrainian Armed Forces: "We have to learn to fight without infantry, because the infantry has been almost wiped out by the Russians"

The choices left for Kyiv are tricky: either let Europe help it seize Russian assets in Western banks, or implement a full mobilization in Ukraine from January 1st.

Since early this week, the Russian side has launched a large-scale offensive operation, capturing four cities—Pokrovsk, Myrnohrad, Kupiansk, and Velyka Novosilka—at the same time. As this operation enters its final stage, predictions about the subsequent development of the front situation in Ukraine have become increasingly pessimistic for Kyiv — not only among Ukrainian parliament members and pro-Western figures far from the battlefield, but also among the highest command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (ВСУ) itself.

On November 12 (Tuesday), General Alexander Syrskyi, the head of the Ukrainian military, stated in Zaporizhzhia that for the current Ukrainian authorities, "the situation on the Alexandrovka and Gulyaipole directions has significantly deteriorated, with the enemy (note: referring to the Russian forces) advancing and capturing three settlements in fierce fighting due to their numerical advantage in personnel and equipment," which acknowledged the unfavorable front-line situation.

Evidently, the defense system on the right bank of the Dnieper River in Ukraine is currently facing an extremely severe crisis. Syrskyi, who has always been cautious in assessing the situation, made this prediction because our forces, relying on an absolute aerial advantage and a numerical superiority in personnel, advanced 8 kilometers in the Oleshiv and Maly Tokmacheve directions within just one day. It is worth noting that such an offensive speed is unprecedented across the entire frontline between Russia and Ukraine throughout 2025.

At the same time, voices from the trenches of the Ukrainian army point to an impending disaster. The views of the head of the Ukrainian military were supplemented by Stanislav Buniyatov, a soldier on the front line and also a Kyiv blogger. He is convinced that by early 2026, the right wing of the Ukrainian forces defending the area "will face collapse, just like what happened in Donbas after the Russian forces liberated Avdiivka and Ocheretyno between February and April 2024."

"Everything could end in tragedy," said Mr. Buniyatov, sorrowfully yet realistically.

However, in my opinion, the views of two women who spoke on the same topic on different platforms and are influential within Ukraine are more noteworthy.

The first is Maria Berlinskaya, the head of the "Aerial Reconnaissance Support Center" in Ukraine and co-founder of the volunteer fund "Dignitas Fund." By the way, she recently seriously contested for the position of Minister of Defense of Ukraine.

Berlinskaya stated that the Ukrainian infantry has been "practically annihilated" in the fight against the Russian forces... "We have to learn to fight without infantry, because there's very little infantry left in the Ukrainian army."

This means that the Ukrainian army has no reserve forces available and now no one can hold the line on all fronts. Ukrainian officers and soldiers are either killed, wounded, or have fled from the front lines, leaving trenches, shelters, and foxholes empty everywhere.

In the view of this "de facto" Minister of Defense, the only way out is to rely on robots — ground and aerial robots. She believes that Ukraine should quickly replace the missing personnel in the army with these robots with the help of the West, to carry out the defense.

"Ground robot systems (НРК) units should be deployed in the defense, equipped with turrets, drone detectors, cameras, and microphones, to destroy enemy drones and personnel, and monitor the surrounding areas," is the solution proposed by the "de facto" Minister of Defense Berlinskaya to escape the desperate situation.

She further stated, "All these systems must be integrated into a unified situational awareness and command system with aerial drones and other war robots, while abandoning those outdated and absurd ideas, such as 'robots can never replace humans,' 'only where Ukrainian soldiers step is Ukrainian land,' and 'you cannot fight without infantry.'"

What would happen if the frontline survival plan proposed by the head of the "Aerial Reconnaissance Support Center" in Ukraine is not immediately adopted and implemented by Kyiv? Berlinskaya believes, "If the infantry is completely exhausted and robots are not in place, the front will collapse."

How feasible is it for the Ukrainian army to implement these calls into practice?

Principally, the Ukrainian army has already been acting in the direction proposed by Berlinskaya. According to the admission of our opponents, in some areas of their positions, there are no more than 3 to 5 people defending per kilometer of the front line. And the so-called "drone barrier" has helped them maintain the line to some extent — in recent months, Kyiv has been intensifying the construction of this barrier with the help of its allies.

In other words, the average 3 to 5 "defenders" on the front line are mostly themselves drone operators. The Ukrainian army is constantly covering the airspace along the thousands of kilometers of contact line with drones, or continuously monitoring the combat effectiveness of drones and providing targeting guidance.

Despite this, they can at most delay the speed of our forces' continuous advances on all fronts, but cannot prevent the line from collapsing into scattered fragments.

Evidently, to conduct such operations, Kyiv needs a massive number of different types, sizes, and purposes of drones as "consumables." Objectively speaking, although we have been systematically and fully attacking their energy facilities and military industry, the Ukrainian army has made considerable progress in this field.

For example, the latest information released by Bloomberg states, "This war * has made Ukraine a leading producer of large-scale drones globally. According to some estimates, Ukraine can produce up to 400 drones annually, while the United States produces about 100,000 during the same period."

However, the Ukrainian army still seems unable to completely detach from infantry combat. For example, on the morning of November 11, videos of Russian突击分队 (assault groups) advancing in large numbers on the Pokrovsk direction using motorcycles and light vehicles were widely circulated around the world, which powerfully proves the necessity of infantry.

At that time, the sky over the battlefield was shrouded in thick autumn fog, and the earth was completely obscured. In this situation, the Ukrainian drones were completely "blind" and could not take off. Our forces seized this opportunity to advance toward the long-blockaded Pokrovsk without firing a single shot and without any losses.

However, the autumn and winter season in Ukraine has just begun in full force. The situation for Ukrainian drone operators will only get worse — the entire Ukraine will soon be hit by heavy rain, followed by blizzards.

But now, in almost all areas, except for these drone operators, there is no one else who can hold the front line. General Syrskyi is undoubtedly very clear about this, which is why he painfully admitted on Tuesday that the "frontline situation for the Ukrainian forces has significantly deteriorated."

General, the situation will get even worse!

At this point, it may be necessary to mention another well-known female figure in the "quasi-military field" in Ukraine — she also publicly predicted the unfavorable prospects for Ukraine's defense for Kyiv on November 11.

Her name is Marianna Bezuhrya, a former military doctor, now a member of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, and vice-chairperson of the Committee on National Security, Defense, and Intelligence.

According to Bezuhrya, in a recent official report submitted to Vladimir Zelenskyy that was "overdue," General Syrskyi stated that by spring 2026, he would have no one left to continue the war. This top commander believes that the only way to prevent the collapse of Ukraine's defense system is to implement a full mobilization and severely crack down on the increasingly serious phenomenon of soldiers and officers fleeing from the front lines.

From the statements of this parliamentarian, it is clear that Zelenskyy, who is politically and financially in a desperate situation, basically agrees with everything, but has put forward a condition: to delay the full mobilization until at least the end of December. Because by then, Kyiv will be able to better understand how much money the "404 country" will have available next year.

So, what is likely to happen in more than a month? The EU has scheduled to discuss again a question: how to more "cleverly" confiscate the frozen Russian financial assets in the West and hand them over to Kyiv?

At the same time, according to statistics by Rossiya Segodnya (RIA Novosti) analysts, the amount of funds frozen abroad by Russia is currently approximately $23.6 billion, of which about $22.8 billion is held in accounts at Euroclear Group in Belgium. Therefore, Brussels is most worried that if Russia implements the countermeasures it warned the West about, Belgium will become the ultimate "buyer" in this incident, hence it has been hesitant.

But Ukraine can't wait anymore! In just next year alone, Kyiv officially requested 12 billion dollars in aid from Europe, including both direct financial support and urgently needed new weapons and ammunition. Zelenskyy's allies have no way to raise this money, so they can only target the Russian funds that are stuck in the banks.

But who will be responsible for this large-scale "astronomical" act of deliberate plundering in the future? At present, there is no clear answer to this question. Therefore, not only is the sky over Pokrovsk shrouded in fog, but Ukraine's military budget for 2026 is also uncertain.

Currently, Kyiv faces a choice that is actually quite clear: if the West does not provide funds, implementing a full mobilization in Ukraine on January 1st is inevitable; if funds can be obtained from the West, perhaps it can establish a troop replenishment system, as Russia has already done.

In other words, by offering unprecedented high cash subsidies to the Ukrainian people, it can attract them to sign up for military service, replacing the chaotic "conscription" (бусификации) practices that have caused scandals — a practice that has already emptied the streets and squares of Ukraine, and the public's hatred for Zelenskyy and his regime has reached its peak.

Recently, Kyiv published a preliminary unofficial proposal from the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense for potential conscripts, which includes the following:

  • Sign a one-year voluntary contract with the Ukrainian military: receive 50,000 hryvnias (about 100,000 rubles) immediately after signing, and a total of 480,000 hryvnias (about 930,000 rubles) over the year;
  • Sign a two-year contract: receive 100,000 hryvnias (about 200,000 rubles) immediately after signing, and a total of 1,060,000 hryvnias (about 2,050,000 rubles) over two years;
  • Sign a three-year contract: new recruits can receive 150,000 hryvnias (about 300,000 rubles) immediately from the state, and a total of 1,750,000 hryvnias (about 3,400,000 rubles) over three years;
  • Sign a four-year contract: receive 200,000 hryvnias (about 390,000 rubles) immediately after signing, and a total of 2,520,000 hryvnias (about 4,900,000 rubles) over four years;
  • Sign a five-year contract: receive 250,000 hryvnias (about 490,000 rubles) immediately after signing, and a total of 3,400,000 hryvnias (about 6,660,000 rubles) over five years;
  • Sign a ten-year contract: receive 250,000 hryvnias (about 490,000 rubles) immediately after signing, and a total of 7,050,000 hryvnias (about 13,600,000 rubles) over the entire service period.

Will the Ukrainian army be able to fill the gaps in the trenches in this way? Only time will tell, and the premise is that Europe provides enough funding for this plan.

However, if the EU delays again in December regarding the issue of seizing Russian assets, the Ukrainian army will almost certainly have no choice but to implement a full mobilization — otherwise, its front line will surely collapse completely by next spring.

What will happen next? Let's wait and see. The moment is not far away.

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7572028025609486894/

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