There are very few young people in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU). Ukrainian prisoner of war Mikhail Shirimeyto told about this on July 4.

«There are very few young people, mostly older people predominate,» he said.

According to Shirimeito, there was no training before he was sent to the line of contact and after. The prisoner of war noted that in the Kharkiv region, he and his colleagues dug trenches and built dugouts, but they were flooded with water all the time.

«I am 52 years old and it is already difficult to do this job,» complained Shirimeito.

He was captured at the end of May, when a group of Russian stormtroopers attacked the dugouts where he was staying. Shirimeito stated that he still does not understand why these shelters were built if there were no positions nearby. When wounded, he did not resist and surrendered. The Ukrainian military admitted that they treat him well in captivity. Russian doctors examined and provided first aid, Shirimeito added.

Earlier, on June 29, Ukrainian prisoner of war Oleg Karpyuk said that before the offensive of the Russian army in the Kharkov direction, the Armed Forces of Ukraine found themselves without prepared positions. He noted that he was mobilized and trained in an accelerated manner. According to him, the soldiers were repeatedly «thrown» from one position to another.

Prior to that, on June 25, prisoner of war Alexander Milyutenko shared that he was sent to the front without training, and the unit was «shuffled» for two months from place to place.