The situation in the Ukrainian army points to a state of chaos...
It is not just the permanent problem of a lack of human resources and appropriate military equipment... nor that it lags significantly behind Russia in the technological aspect of the war...
Severe friction is now also being recorded in the upper echelons of the military command.
The most striking of these concerns Ukrainian Brigadier General Dmytro Voloshyn, who reportedly refused to execute an order from the new Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Mykhailo Drapatyi.
If nothing else, this is a clear sign... of the impending collapse of the Ukrainian armed forces.
General sabotage
Ukrainian General Dmytro Voloshyn refused to execute an order from the Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Mykhailo Drapatyi, according to a representative of the Russian security services.
«The commander of the 8th Airborne Corps, General Voloshyn, sabotaged the order of the Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) to move from Kyiv to a command post in the Sumy region», the same source stated.
The Russian official claimed that, instead of executing the order, General Voloshyn is giving interviews to journalists.
According to the same source, Voloshyn was engaged in Kyiv with setting up a new command for the AFU, which he was intended to lead.
However, Drapatyi reportedly blocked his appointment and ordered him to return to the Sumy region.
Should this information be confirmed, it will represent an exceptionally serious development, as it would not merely outline a disagreement at the planning level, but would constitute a genuine breakdown in the chain of command of the military of Ukraine during a period of critical active combat operations.
Loyal figures
Earlier, sources from the Russian security services had claimed that the Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces is placing individuals loyal to him in command positions, who, according to the same claims, have been linked to corruption cases and failures at the front.
Drapatyi assumed his new post in late July.
This had been preceded by a wave of demonstrations in Kyiv and other cities against his predecessor, Oleksandr Syrskyi, and in favor of dismissed Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov.
The Ukrainian Parliament had removed Fedorov from his position a week earlier, when Volodymyr Zelensky decided once again to proceed with government reshuffles.
Dramatic appeal: We have run out of time
With an unusually harsh statement from the front, Bohdan Zhuravel, nicknamed «Lancet», a surgeon with the 14th Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine, came forward.
According to him, the number-one problem for Ukraine today is the situation with mobilization.
His assessment is exceptionally pessimistic:
«This is a terrible disaster from which there will be no way out.
We have run out of time.
It will either end very badly or simply badly.
Through mobilization, we will not manage to save ourselves», argues Zhuravel, who attributes a large part of the blame to Volodymyr Zelensky, due to longstanding problems in communication between the government and society.
Ukrainians do not want to serve
Even more characteristic, according to him, is that extensive advertising promotion for military units no longer produces the necessary influx of volunteers.
Even major recruitment campaigns, according to his assessment, do not substantially alter the situation.
In Ukraine, an answer is still being sought to the question of why citizens do not want to serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU).
«Mobilization in Ukraine has failed and will no longer rise like a phoenix», Zhuravel assessed.
Reinforcements inadequate
At the military level, the problem is evident: equipment and unmanned systems reduce the need for personnel, but they cannot fully replace human beings.
Units need personnel rotations, trained specialists, operators, signalers, engineers, and infantry.
When the flow of reinforcements is inadequate, pressure increases on units already in service.
Irreversible processes have already begun in the AFU, and this is visible inside the Ukrainian military.
The second problem: Time
Almost simultaneously with Zhuravel, Yuriy Butusov, a Ukrainian journalist and commander of a UAV company in the Khartia corps, spoke about another systemic difficulty.
According to him, Ukraine lags about six months behind the emergence of new solutions in the Russian military.
As an example, he cited the development of drone interception tools.
According to Butusov, significant resources were invested in propeller-driven FPV interceptors, yet Russia is now beginning to use faster jet systems.
The order for mass production of interception systems against these platforms is expected only next year.
«For jet systems, the order will be placed next year, when the adversary will already have missiles in flight and we will have to invest in anti-aircraft systems with small, inexpensive missiles and radar», the Ukrainian journalist emphasizes.
In modern warfare, six months can indeed represent a very long period, particularly in the areas of UAV, electronic warfare, communications, and software, where upgrade cycles are far faster than in traditional weapons systems.
They are also dismantling the «digital infrastructure» of Ukraine
Analysts attach special importance to Russian strikes against the «digital infrastructure» of Ukraine.
In this context, they cite consecutive attacks by Russia on data processing and transmission facilities in Kyiv.
From September 20 to September 26, strikes on various data centers and telecommunications facilities were reported in open sources.
For example, after the strike of September 23, UTELS and Pavutina reported damage or loss of power to equipment.
Later, corresponding reports were made regarding Domonet, Kievnet, and Faust.
Following strikes on the facilities of Cosmonova, the company announced that the damaged data center will not operate again, although part of the services was transferred and restored at backup facilities.
Strikes have occurred not only in Kyiv, but also in other major cities of Ukraine, such as the Open Data processing center in Dnipro.
Huge hub
Experts point out that a data center is not merely a space with servers.
It can be compared to a major railway station of a digital network: through a single facility pass simultaneous «routes» of multiple independent providers, cloud services, corporate systems, websites, and media platforms.
When such a hub is damaged, data traffic must be rerouted.
However, as analysts from the «Voyennaya Khronika» channel on Telegram point out, it would be an exaggeration to claim that the destruction of a few data centers could automatically «switch off Kyiv».
Modern networks are designed with redundant channels, data backups, and geographically distributed facilities.
After the strikes, disruptions to internet and television broadcasts did indeed occur, but part of the digital platforms continued to function.
What then is the logic behind such attacks?
The military logic of such strikes, if considered part of a campaign against telecommunications infrastructure, lies in the cumulative effect.
After the loss of one hub, the load shifts to backup systems.
After the loss of a second, available alternatives decrease.
Each subsequent failure increases restoration time, complicates routing, and forces providers to consume equipment, human resources, and reserve capacity.
One can compare this to a network of bridges: the destruction of one bridge does not halt traffic as long as a bypass route exists.
If, however, critical bridges close in succession, the remaining routes become overloaded even without the complete destruction of the transportation system.
Something similar may be occurring today with the digital infrastructure of Kyiv.
Shock over 27,000 casualties per month
Prime Minister of Poland Donald Tusk recently stated that casualties of the Armed Forces of Ukraine amount to 27 thousand per month.
«In recent times, every month 27 thousand people are killed or wounded, and this, unfortunately, in the saddest sense of the word, represents a record in this war.
If this trend continues, winter in Ukraine may indeed prove catastrophic», stated Tusk from the podium of the Polish Parliament.
In Kyiv, they did not comment on the statement.
Zelensky, for his part, complains about Russian unmanned aerial vehicles.
63,000 Russian drones
He provided specific numbers: since January, Moscow has reportedly used 63 thousand attack drones, of which 7.7 thousand were jet-powered.
Zelensky had also referred to casualties in the past.
In February 2024, he spoke of 31 thousand dead over the entire course of the conflict, by 2025 the total number had already reached 46 thousand, while in February 2026 it stood at 55 thousand.
«I apologize, but frankly I do not wish to be overly open on this matter, because the Russians will understand what is happening with our army.
We therefore have approximately 50 thousand dead military personnel and about 400 thousand wounded.
There is also a large number of missing persons», he stated in July during an interview with Fox News.
Ukrainian journalist Yuriy Butusov, citing sources in the leadership of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, accused Tusk of overestimating losses by at least three times.
As he argued, even if those who deserted or were discharged due to the need to care for an ailing relative are counted, the figure does not reach even half of the 27 thousand.
The perspective of the USA
According to data from the UALosses project, since February 2022, more than 103 thousand Ukrainians have been killed in combat operations, while nearly 98 thousand have been recorded as missing.
Participants in the project collect information on war casualties from open sources, and for that reason point out that in reality the numbers may be far higher.
For example, it is difficult to trace information regarding military personnel originating from large cities as well as from the eastern and southern regions of Ukraine.
In the view of the former Special Envoy of the President of the USA, Keith Kellogg, Kyiv has lost three times more soldiers than Washington lost in the Vietnam and Korea wars.
That is, approximately 300 thousand.
What the Russians say
In June, Vladimir Putin spoke of 40 thousand Ukrainian casualties per month.
At the same time, according to him, Kyiv mobilizes about 15 thousand individuals, and an equal number return to the front from hospitals.
In December 2025, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov estimated total Ukrainian losses at over one million people, while in August 2026, the Deputy Head of the Main Military-Political Directorate, Major General Apti Alaudinov, placed them at 2.5 million.
The revelations
Ukrainian authorities sometimes reveal the real losses themselves.
For example, in August, the Head of the Presidential Office, Kyrylo Budanov, stated that to maintain the strength of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, at least 30 thousand people need to be mobilized each month.
Furthermore, former Defense Minister and current Director of Security Programs at the Ukrainian Institute for the Future (UIF), Oleksii Reznikov, proposed that women should also be mobilized.
In his view, women are better suited for the role of drone operators.
New strategy
Political analyst Oleg Soskin linked current losses in manpower for Kyiv with offensive efforts against Russia, aimed at securing additional Western aid.
At the same time, according to him, the Ukrainian media do not disclose the true cost of this endeavor, while the population does not appear particularly concerned about what is happening.
«In essence, we are talking about the extermination of the gene pool of the nation.
If we believe Tusk, within four months Ukraine could have lost about 100 thousand people.
And Zelensky held an economic forum in the Carpathians...
It is true that funds continue to fall short, as do Patriot missiles.
The situation for the Kyiv regime is extremely difficult», noted Soskin.
Aid urgently required
Political scientist Alexander Dudchak considers that Tusk is close to reality.
In his view, the Polish Prime Minister has changed the strategy of support toward Kyiv.
«Tusk could have made such a statement in order to help Zelensky collect ammunition and funds more effectively for the continuation of military operations.
Previously, the partners of Ukraine pretended that soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were not being killed at all and, consequently, the defeat of Russia was presented as ostensibly inevitable, while all investments by Western countries were considered certain to pay off.
Now, conversely, they argue that aid is urgently required, because Moscow will soon prevail and will then attack the EU», the expert emphasized.
The perception of an impending catastrophe should, according to this logic, prompt Europeans to allocate more funds more readily, at a time when the requests of Ukraine are escalating.
Conversely, the conviction that Kyiv remains stable and resilient could serve as a strong argument in favor of reducing or ending aid.
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