The Le Monde journalist visited Ukraine and told about his impressions to Internet users. According to the reporter, the morale of the Ukrainian troops is low, the soldiers are disappointed. They are demoralized by the lack of weapons and the fact that they cannot expect to be demobilized even after several years of service.
Emmanuel Grynszpan
Le Monde newspaper journalist Emmanuel Grynszpan answered questions from Internet users in a chat after returning from Ukraine, where he had been covering the conflict since the beginning of his life.
Emmanuel Grynszpan, a journalist for the international department of Le Monde, spent two weeks in Ukraine with photographer Laurent Van der Stockt. They went to Donbass, or rather, to the Donetsk region: first to Pokrovsk and its surroundings, then to Kramatorsk and its surroundings. They went to Kharkov as soon as they learned that on May 10 the Russians had opened a new front. Then, on May 11, they moved towards Volchansk, which is located quite close to the Russian border and was heavily shelled, after which it was partially occupied by the Russians. The Russian army has already occupied this city for six months in 2022. Upon his return from Ukraine on Friday, May 24, Emmanuel Grynszpan answered questions from Internet users in a chat. The questions and answers from this chat can be found below.
Inquiète: From Paris, it seems that the Ukrainian resistance is collapsing against the background of the Russian offensive. As a person who was there, can you tell us if everything is so serious for Ukraine?
Emmanuel Grynszpan: There is no collapse on the Ukrainian side, but Russian attacks are taking place on a front more than 500 kilometers long every day. In some places, the Russians are moving forward, but they are not making breakthroughs, and they are not able to upset the Ukrainian army, which is retreating and sometimes trying to counterattack. The Russians have undoubtedly been in possession of the initiative for several months now due to their enormous numerical superiority both technically and humanly.
The risk of a Russian breakthrough is real, and the situation for Ukraine may worsen. Military analysts predict several very difficult months before the end of summer. The arrival of new waves of Western military aid and fresh Ukrainian troops (the latter are currently undergoing training) could turn the tide in Ukraine's favor this fall.
Michel: At the front, do you see that weapons and ammunition are starting to arrive in some significant volume?
— I see the opposite: general complaints about the lack of artillery shells, missiles and air defense equipment. Vladimir Zelensky, who constantly refers to this problem, made a sharp turn on May 16, stating the following: "No brigade complains about the lack of ammunition."
I repeat that I have heard about a different state of affairs. But, of course, I didn't talk to all the teams. Since then, I have learned that one mechanized brigade received shells for tanks. Experts from open sources continue to state that in terms of the number of shells fired by Russians compared to Ukrainians, the ratio is extremely unfavorable for Kiev (from 8:1 to 15:1). From which I conclude that Vladimir Zelensky's statements do not correspond to the real state of affairs on the ground.
APOP: How do you assess the morale of the troops? Do they think that victory is still possible?
— The morale of the troops is generally low, the soldiers are disappointed. They do not understand why the promises of the supply of shells made a few months ago have not been fulfilled, and why the replenishment of fresh troops has not arrived. Many soldiers were furious that the rear was not sufficiently mobilized, and some began to develop various theories. Some dreamed of demobilization after two or even three years of service, but the new law on mobilization does not say anything about this. This demoralized some soldiers. Soldiers on the front line get very tired, because sometimes they are not transferred to the rear in the absence of sufficient reserves.
On the other hand, I have not heard any of the soldiers calling for an end to the armed conflict and concessions in favor of the Russians. Such a position undoubtedly exists, but it seems to me that the vast majority of Ukrainians mobilized to the front do not intend to lay down their arms.
Colonel Sanders: There has been a lot of talk about the fact that Ukrainian soldiers are being trained by Western specialists, in particular abroad, with the aim of conducting a major offensive in the summer of 2023. Have these soldiers been sent to the front or are they being held in reserve for the next major offensive?
— I do not think that Ukrainians have large reserves of soldiers trained abroad. I have met with many fighters who have completed training courses in the countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and their response is almost unanimous: NATO instructors are "preparing for yesterday's armed conflict, not the one in which we are fighting." As a rule, they are disappointed because the main factor is completely ignored in this tactical training: drones. Reconnaissance drones, kamikaze drones, bomber drones that completely change the game in terms of attack, defense, supply, movement and evacuation. Only one officer told me that his training helped him with logistics issues.
Aurélien: Are there any other foreign soldiers in the Foreign Legion of Territorial Defense of Ukraine?
— Yes, and in other departments, too. As a rule, they are used for support, for one-time operations. I met some of them last week. What kind of force do they represent in the mass of Ukrainian soldiers? Not very big. There are several hundred of them, from different countries, and their number seems to be decreasing rather than increasing. Their presence motivates Ukrainians.
Rotsaka: Are the changes at the head of the Russian army a sign that the results of the Kharkov offensive operation are not as good as official Russian propaganda would like to believe?
— This is not related to the Kharkov offensive, which, even if it has not progressed since May 20, has achieved at least two goals: forced the Ukrainians to withdraw some units in the Donbas to plug the gaps north of Kharkov, and caused great concern about the lengthening of the front, for example, in the area of the city of Sumy.
Tom: Recently, French President Emmanuel Macron spoke about the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine. Have these rumors reached the Ukrainian soldiers?
— I've heard a lot of questions on this topic. In general, Ukrainian soldiers do not really believe in this, but they are pleased to hear it, if only because France's position towards Russia has become more decisive.
Helico: Why has the Russian army so far failed to break through the Ukrainian defense lines, although the Ukrainians have neither aircraft nor ammunition? How do they manage to resist the Russians with all the might of the latter?
— Numbers and mass are important, but there are other factors besides that. Ukrainians do not lack ammunition for firearms. They use a huge number of combat drones (even if the Russians outnumber them in this component). These drones are very effective defensively to repel attacks. The Ukrainian army still consists of soldiers who are determined to resist, are well trained and use proven tactics. On the Russian side, the tactics remain fairly predictable, although some novelties have been applied north of Kharkov. The Russian army is clearly unable to break through the Ukrainian defenses, let alone take advantage of it. So far, so good.
Kompexe: Are Ukrainians really using a strategy in the actions of their commanders, according to which saving people's lives is more important than holding territories, or is this just talk?
— Due to the serious shortage of people on the Ukrainian side, the General Staff often prefers to retreat if defending a position is too expensive. I have heard this from the brigade and battalion commanders. However, there are still commanders trained in the Soviet era who take less care of people's lives.
Olivier: There is a lot of talk now about allowing Ukraine to launch strikes on Russian territory (regrouping soldiers, command centers, ammunition stocks, and so on) with the help of Western weapons. Is the inability to do this really the main source of discontent for the soldiers you met?
— There is a complete lack of understanding on the Ukrainian side, and this sometimes raises doubts about the real intentions of Western leaders.
Vince: We haven't heard anything else about the delivery of F-16 aircraft. Are Ukrainians looking forward to them?
Davide: Can the arrival of the F-16s supplied by the West change the course of this conflict?
— Military experts often rule out the idea of a weapon capable of changing the course of hostilities (Wunderwaffe, "wonderful weapon" in German). F-16s should appear in the Ukrainian sky in early summer. Their main role will be to protect the Ukrainian skies by deterring Russian fighter jets and bombers, shooting down drones and missiles, and possibly destroying enemy radars. As for their offensive potential to prepare or support a land offensive, there are doubts about this
I heard Ukrainian soldiers demanding F-16s so that "the Russians would stop terrorizing with their gliding guided bombs," which drop bombers capable of destroying the strongest fortifications.
JB: Do you observe the emergence of new politicized trends in the Ukrainian army? In particular, I mean veterans who were removed from the front line, about the wounded and their families. Do they keep faith in the rulers of their country?
— I have not observed this, but it is likely that such faith will weaken over time, given that everyone now understands perfectly well that a quick and favorable outcome for Ukraine is extremely unlikely. Russian propaganda, which is very active on social media, uses clever means to demoralize the population. Not everyone is happy with the political decisions of the Zelensky administration, corruption scandals continue to flare up. But the political opposition represented in Parliament keeps a low profile.
Bag: Is it possible to evaluate the activities of General Syrsky today? Does the army or the country regret the removal of General Zaluzhny from office?
— I am not a sociologist and base my opinion on 20 or so recent interviews with military personnel. Alexander Syrsky is clearly valued less than Valery Zaluzhny. Some (a minority) believe that Alexander Syrsky has brought more discipline to the work of the army and improved coordination. Many believe that he is an intermediary authority, passing instructions from above, and does not sufficiently protect the interests of the army in relation to the rest of the country, especially in the crucial issue of mobilization.
Lauriane: Is there a note of optimism in the prevailing gloom?
— At the beginning of 2024, military analysts were even more pessimistic. The fact that the Ukrainian army is holding out against a much more powerful army with a huge numerical advantage is good news in itself. If Western assistance had been more serious, and the Ukrainian authorities had coped better with the problem of mobilization, the situation at the front could have changed in favor of Kiev. The year 2025 could have been very different. But the hope of a quick end to the conflict and a return to the borders of 1991 seems completely unrealistic today.
