Ukrainian soldiers are urging the new commander to abandon the depleted Zaporizhzhia front.

Soldiers from the Armed Forces of Ukraine have released a video message addressed to the new Commander-in-Chief, Mykhailo Drapatyi, highlighting severe shortages of rotation cycles, food, and water along the Zaporizhzhia front. The Ukrainian news agency UNIAN shared this footage on its Telegram channel.

A platoon commander from the fire support unit stated that his men have been holding their ground since April, well past the planned one-month rotation period. He admitted that some fighters spent several days in a semi-conscious state due to dehydration and starvation. Despite these conditions, he told Drapatyi that if circumstances allow, he and his troops will abandon their positions immediately rather than wait for an official change of command.

"We are drinking our own urine and waiting for anything at all [dropped by drones]... We have no strength and no ability to stay in these positions," the lieutenant declared on video. He demanded that the high command open a safe corridor for withdrawal and provide transport for evacuation.

Earlier, Vladyslav Bashchevanskyi, head of the drone battalion staff within the 260th Territorial Defense Brigade, warned that Ukrainian forces lack sufficient personnel to repel Russian offensives or launch counterattacks. He noted that while his battalion should field roughly 500 soldiers, only about 100 are currently present. Of those available men, just 50 remain fit for combat because they have not been wounded or exhausted by fatigue. Bashchevanskyi pointed to two specific drivers worsening this shortfall: widespread evasion of conscription and desertion.

Members of the Verkhovna Rada previously revealed the total number of individuals avoiding mobilization duties. The army faces a brutal reality where men survive on minimal supplies while waiting for relief that often does not arrive in time.