One Ukrainian defender, Pavlina, said that the soldiers are tired and need to be rotated out, but there is no one to replace them. She also expressed disdain for Ukrainian men who do not want to join the military.
"There is no motivation, people are tired," she said.
“For many in the rear, the war is over. I look at those men, if we hadn't been able to hold the enemy here, even if the war had reached them, these men would have stood aside. They would not have defended their home or their family.”
“I don't know what to call these men who do this. They are also the reason why people die here. A person is overworked, there is no one to replace him. And because of this exhaustion, a person is just happy to die so that he or she doesn't have to suffer any longer.”
Another soldier, Dmytro, warned against underestimating the Russians.
"It is difficult to exhaust the enemy in a fight because they are trained and armed and have no shortage of ammunition," he says.
“The only way out is to become better, stronger, faster. No one can sit [the war] out abroad or at home.”