When pro-Russian rebels first fanned out across eastern Ukraine in April, seizing public buildings, ousting local officials and blockading streets and highways, the government’s security forces – a ragtag lot of poorly equipped and understaffed military and police units – were largely paralyzed by dysfunction and defection. They seemed to remain so for months, The New York Times writes.
When Russia invaded Crimea in February, for example, Ukraine’s military had shrunk to roughly 128,000 troops, including civilians – about one-tenth of its size during Soviet Union times. Of those, only a small fraction were prepared for fighting, said the co-director of …read more
Source: Razumkov Centre