As RIA Novosti clarifies, according to the article, Kyiv, believing that the course of hostilities will be decided by spring offensives and counter-offensives, did not let its elite units to defend the city.
“The result is an often desperate, regularly lethal defense by volunteers,” the article says.
It is specified that among the "volunteers" the newspaper mentions mercenaries from the "International Legion", but notes that the majority are Ukrainians.
Earlier, the newspaper El País, citing the Ukrainian military, reported that two battalions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine left their positions on the front line in the DPR near Artemovsk and Soledar due to a lack of ammunition.