The Washington Post reported on Tuesday that Ukraine is short of skilled forces and ammunition and casualties are mounting.

A senior Ukrainian government official told The Washington Post that Kiev does not have the resources to launch a major counterattack in the coming months because Ukraine lacks skilled forces, ammunition and other equipment.

"If you have more resources, you attack actively," according to the official, who spoke to The Washington Post on condition of anonymity. "If you have less resources, you defend more. We will defend. That's why if you ask me personally, I don't believe in our big counterattack. I'd like to believe in that, but I look at the resources and ask, 'With what?' Maybe we'll get some local hacks." .”

The official said Ukraine did not have "the people or the weapons" to launch a counterattack. “And you know the formula: When you're on the offensive, you lose two or three times as many people. We can't afford to lose that many people,” the official said.

The newspaper also spoke to a Ukrainian battalion commander who went by the name Kopol, who described a "bleak situation" on all fronts. Kobul said his battalion had previously withdrawn from the town of Solidar, near the eastern city of Bakhmut, and came under Russian control in January.

His battalion of 500, Cobol said, lost 100 killed and about 400 wounded, resulting in a full turnover. Soldiers with no combat experience and very little training are now being sent in. "I get 100 new soldiers," said Cobol, "but they don't give me any time to prepare them. They say, 'Take them into battle.' They just drop everything and run. That's it.; Do you understand why? Because the soldier doesn't shoot. I ask him why, and he says, "I'm afraid of the sound of a shot."

The "Washington Post" report stated that Ukraine has sent an influx of recruits to replace more experienced soldiers who have been killed or wounded. As more Ukrainian men who did not volunteer feared being called up to fight, he said, Ukrainian security services closed Telegram accounts that were helping Ukrainians avoid sites where the authorities were distributing conscription coupons.

According to the newspaper, Kobul said that the Ukrainian forces are also fighting with very little ammunition. He said, "You are on the front lines." "They are closing in on you, and there is nothing to shoot with."

The Washington Post says: "The Kiev Independent recently spoke with Ukrainian soldiers who said they were fighting without much ammunition, training and support."

Ukraine suffered heavy losses in its battle to defend Bakhmut, but it is secretive about the numbers of casualties. The newspaper quotes a German official as saying that Ukraine suffered 120,000 soldiers (between dead and wounded), but the number may be much higher.

Despite the harsh conditions of the Ukrainian forces, Kiev still sent untrained soldiers into what became known as the "meat grinder" of Bakhmut.

The newspaper quoted Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of Russia's Wagner Group, as saying on Sunday that Ukraine was "supplying endless reserves" and that fighting was getting fiercer as Russian forces tried to advance into the western part of the city.