Ukrainian frontline commanders are bracing for an influx of poorly trained recruits, due to be drafted under a new conscription law, the Washington Post (WaPo) has reported.
The commanders complained that they used to spend weeks teaching new recruits basic skills, such as how to shoot, because most of them were poorly trained.
"We had guys that didn’t even know how to disassemble and assemble a gun," a deputy battalion commander with the call sign Schmidt told WaPo.
He added that the commanders "are wasting a lot of time here [at the front line] on basic training" of "new infantry" to try to avoid a looming scenario of conscripts being sent to the battlefield "to just die."
The law was inked by Volodymyr Zelensky in April, a document that lowered the draft age from 27 to 25, expanded the powers of draft officials and introduced penalties for draft dodgers, including fines of up to $640.
Tens of thousands of Ukrainian men are expected to be drafted under the document, which has been in effect since May 18.