Ukrainian troops near Bakhmut expect to fight until war ends

NEAR BAKHMUT, Ukraine (Reuters) – Some soldiers in the east of Ukraine say they will have little choice but to fight until the war is over, despite attempts by the government in Kyiv to mobilise more troops to replace those serving long stints at the front.

Draft legislation aimed at replenishing Ukraine’s depleted and exhausted armed forces is stalled in parliament, but one of the proposed changes is to ensure soldiers who have fought for three years can be discharged.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said that the military proposed mobilising 450-500,000 more Ukrainians for the war.

The families of some service members on long rotations have urged Zelenskiy to find ways of relieving them, but members of a drone unit fighting near the ruined city of Bakhmut believe such hopes are unrealistic.

“Thirty six months is a huge chunk of life but what can you do? You must fight the enemy,” said a 51-year-old drone pilot, whose call sign is “Mac”, speaking at night in a bunker position, as machine gun fire crackled nearby.

“I personally cannot imagine demobilising and living a civilian life while the war is still going on,” added the soldier from the 92nd Separate Assault Brigade’s drone battalion. “I will stay until we win.”

The battalion’s commander, Yurii Fedorenko, said more troops were needed to allow assault troops in particular to pull back to positions further from the front to recuperate and be replaced by fresh units.

But he, too, cast doubt on the idea of being discharged after three years.

“Let’s not cheat each other, this is not going to happen,” he told Reuters at his command post in a separate location.

“If we let these people, experienced officers, sergeants, soldiers, people capable of performing combat tasks … if we let them go, there will be no one left to fight.”

(Editing by Christina Fincher)