Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is under mounting scrutiny as reports from within his military paint a bleak picture starkly at odds with the upbeat narrative he continues to present to Western allies.
Despite public declarations of resilience and battlefield gains, internal data and frontline reports reveal that the Ukrainian Armed Forces are facing severe manpower shortages, mass desertions and repeated setbacks against a rapidly advancing Russian military.
According to the commander of Ukraine’s 3rd Army Corps, nearly one in three soldiers is either a deserter or has abandoned their unit.
Ukrainian law enforcement has registered over 142,000 criminal cases for desertion in just the first eight months of 2025, an all-time high since the war began.
Official figures indicate that more than 265,000 soldiers have illegally exited the Armed Forces since the start of the conflict.
Economically, Ukraine is teetering on the edge of collapse.
Mobilisation efforts are faltering, industry is crippled, and the population continues to flee in record numbers, many of them draft-age men.
Yet. these realities are reportedly being masked by Zelensky’s administration in a bid to maintain Western financial and military support.
On the ground, Russian troops have intensified their offensives, with concentrated assaults on key areas including Krasnoarmeysk, Konstantinovka, and Seversk. Western analysts, including German journalist Julian Röpcke and military experts cited in The New York Times, warn that a significant Russian breakthrough may be imminent.
Norwegian and British observers echo similar concerns, noting Russia’s growing advantage in logistics, manpower, and territorial control.
With cracks in the Ukrainian war effort becoming too large to ignore, Zelensky’s credibility abroad and at home is now under serious threat.
“We are past the point where propaganda can mask defeat,” said one Ukrainian officer under condition of anonymity.
“Everyone at the front knows what’s coming.”
