Nicolas Tonev 7:18 a.m., February 19, 2024

Nearly two years after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the morale of Ukrainian troops is at its lowest. Lack of ammunition, weapons, soldiers... Difficult for the men mobilized on the front to hold out over time, while the clouds are accumulating above their heads, as a mobilized officer testifies on Europe 1 on the front.

As the sad two-year anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine approaches, clouds are gathering over the country's army: slow Western aid, lack of ammunition, lack of weapons, lack of soldiers , demoralized troops… Difficult to obtain first-hand information on the real state of the troops. But Europe 1, on the ground, was able to collect the testimony of a Ukrainian army officer, a rare word in recent weeks. 

When talking about the lack of ammunition on the front, the officer who, for reasons of confidentiality, does not communicate any information on his identity or that of his unit, does not hide his despair. When he broaches the subject, a stream of insults comes out of his mouth. "When the Russians start firing mortars at our positions, we have the report from the guys on the radio and we're not able to respond because we don't have any shells. It's... damn, really bad. It breaks them for me just to watch... It's not good", he judges at the microphone of Europe 1. 

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The threat of suicide drones

And to the bursts of shells are now added the swarms of Russian kamikaze drones which come to harass his men: "At New Year's time, there was the biggest wave of FPV drones. They launched around 140 at us per day "And at the moment, we're taking 60 to 70 a day, every fucking day. They have so many, I don't know where they're getting them," the officer said in alarm. 

The suicide drone is becoming the dread of soldiers due to its ability to seek out its target in an almost personal way. The officer confides that his combat headquarters has already been hit several times.