As Russia pounds Ukraine, Kyiv grapples with a growing manpower shortage in the military | Gravitas
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For Ukraine there is a growing problem that missiles cannot solve. It is running short of willing soldiers and military recruitment teams are facing increasing hostility across the country.
Russia has unleashed one of its biggest missile assaults of the war. Ukraine is hitting back deep inside Russian territory. But behind the frontlines, Kyiv is facing another battle.
A growing number of Ukrainians no longer want to fight. As missile barrages intensify, Ukraine's manpower crisis is becoming impossible to ignore.
Russia launched one of its largest missile and drone attacks since the war began. Ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and hundreds of drones rained down across Ukraine.
On Sunday, Kyiv came under heavy bombardment and air defences worked through the night. Explosions echoed from one region after another. Before Ukraine could recover, Russia struck again on Monday, hitting the Black Sea port of Odesa.
Ukraine said the missile attack on a civilian grain vessel killed at least ten people and wounded several others, once again underlining Moscow's ability to sustain relentless long-range strikes.
Yet Ukraine is not standing still. Kyiv says its long-range drones have struck military and industrial targets inside Russia, including facilities linked to Moscow's defence sector.
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Ukrainian forces continue to demonstrate they can reach deep behind enemy lines, even as Russian attacks intensify.
Ukraine is running short of willing soldiers?
But there is a growing problem that missiles cannot solve. Ukraine is running short of willing soldiers and military recruitment teams are facing increasing hostility across the country.
According to Ukraine's National Police, more than 600 assaults on recruitment officers have already been recorded, with officials warning that attacks are becoming more frequent and increasingly dangerous.
Many Ukrainians say they are terrified of being sent to the front. Military commanders insist fresh troops are essential to hold defensive lines against Russia's relentless offensive.
But every new wave of mobilisation is becoming more difficult than the last.
Ukraine now faces a brutal reality. It must keep fighting one of the world's largest armies while convincing exhausted civilians to join a war that has already entered its fifth year.
Russia is escalating from the air and Ukraine is striking back across the border but the battle for manpower may become Kyiv's toughest fight yet.