A Ukrainian soldier who lost a leg during the war says untrained soldiers are being sent to the front and regrets volunteering to fight the Russian invasion amid growing disillusionment with this summer’s offensive, Insider reports.

Ruslan Proektor, 52, is recovering in a hospital in Kyiv after stepping on a landmine during fighting in the east of the country this summer. A comrade who tried to save him stepped on a landmine while carrying him in his arms to the Ukrainian borders.

The second explosion caused even more injuries to Ruslan. Now, speaking about it in an interview from the hospital bed to reporters of The Washington Post, he says that he would not go to fight again.

“They take everyone and send them to the front without proper training. I don’t want to be in the company of unmotivated people,” he says.

The Post reports that his anger, like that of others like him, is mainly directed at Russia, but the military is also not afraid to criticize the leadership in Kyiv.

Last week, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said that a state audit of conscription centers revealed “disgusting” practices of corrupt officials.

“Inspections revealed many abuses. Frankly, some are disgusting. All facts made public by law enforcement officers will be made public and investigated in criminal proceedings. The conclusion is obvious: the recruitment system needs people who understand the value of Ukraine’s defense,” he said.

Some Ukrainian soldiers are increasingly frustrated with the lack of progress in the offensive

Another Ukrainian military officer interviewed by The Post, nicknamed “Positive,” who is also in a hospital in Kyiv after suffering concussions in Kherson and Bakhmut, says speculators “need to be sent to the front lines.”

Interviews conducted by American journalists show that despite constant encouraging statements from Ukrainian officials, many military personnel as well as civilians are frustrated by the slow progress of the offensive that began in June.

Many of the units sent to hostilities in the south and east of the country belong to brigades that have been hastily trained in NATO countries in recent weeks. These troops suffer more losses than the veterans, the big problem is the complex defense lines built by the Russian army, especially in the south of the country, where they had time to prepare.

But Michael Kofman, a prominent military analyst, told The Guardian that lack of training also played a role.

“I think it’s fair to be skeptical that, with so little training, you can create cohesive units that can fight for the first time against such carefully prepared defense lines,” he said.

The Ukrainian military, it seems, is frightened by the new defensive tactics of the Russians

Earlier this month, The New York Times reported that in some cases Ukrainian brigades trained in the West even began to abandon tactics taught by American instructors because they proved ineffective.

For example, instead of resorting to complex maneuvers to storm Russian positions, some Ukrainian units have reverted to heavy artillery and rocket fire tactics in hopes of collapsing the defensive lines.

In fact, a Ukrainian soldier trained in Germany has said since the middle of last month that in some respects, Western powers do not appear to have yet adapted to the realities of the war launched by Vladimir Putin last year.

Speaking about the use of quadcopters and civilian drones on the battlefield, the Ukrainian military noted that they are “not even part of the plans” of the Western military.

“They have other types of drones, but only brigade level. This shows that, apart from the war with the aborigines in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, the Americans have not participated in a serious war for a long time,” he said.

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