Stories are spreading from the front lines about lack of basic training for Ukrainian troops sent into battle. This is just one of the challenges Ukraine faces as it tries to address a critical shortage of soldiers amid a Russian offensive.

In this episode: 

• Mansur Mirovalev (@mirovalev), freelance journalist covering Ukraine for Al Jazeera

Episode credits:

This episode was produced by Tamara Khandaker, with Marcos Bartolomé, Sarí el-Khalili, and our host, Malika Bilal.

The Take production team is Amy Walters, Ashish Malhotra, Catherine Nouhan, Chloe K. Li, David Enders, Duha Mosaad, Khaled Soltan, Manahil Naveed, Marcos Bartolomé, Sarí el-Khalili, Sonia Bhagat, and Tamara Khandaker.

Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our lead of audience development and engagement is Aya Elmileik and Adam Abou-Gad is our engagement producer.

Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer. Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera's head of audio.

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