Watching from his trench, dug in the undergrowth not far from the village of Klishchiivka, on the Bakhmut front in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, Ihor Stepanovitch, deputy commander of a mortar unit, observed two young soldiers from the group focused on drones. From 2 kilometers away, they use their drones to monitor Russian lines so well camouflaged that they appear deserted and provide valuable data for the shells they are preparing to fire. "Things are tense. We are advancing village by village, harassing the enemy, preparing for night assaults and covering our guys. It's the infantry alone that's doing the work here, in small groups. Eventually, NATO will come to understand."

This soldier showed no trace of bitterness, though his veiled, almost vitreous eyes told us they had seen too much horror. Now back from his two-week leave, which comes once every six months, he has settled into his routine life, entrenched underground alongside his men. "Ammunition support is good, as are supplies, but the human resource is lacking," he said. "We can't afford to do without experienced soldiers by sending them off to train in new technologies and combat tactics."

His views are not entirely in keeping with those of the NATO countries, which for the past year have been communicating extensively on the effectiveness of the training provided to Ukrainian forces and, along with equipment support, have made it the high point of their policy to help Ukraine in its war against Russia. To measure the utility of this training, which has taken place in the United Kingdom, Spain, Germany and Poland, Le Monde visited three separate fronts, from the east to the southeast of the country. The findings are bleak.

Translation problems

On the same Bakhmut front, Yeyhen, 24, has vivid memories of his training in the UK in July 2022. "Translation was a problem. On one occasion, the instructors told us we had to ensure our own safety before thinking about the wounded. The Ukrainians translating understood: 'If anyone is wounded, kill them for your own safety.'"

He was surrounded by new soldiers who had just enlisted. "The activities," he continued, "were entirely limited to infantry movements without enemy fire, shells, minefields or snipers, even though that is what we do every day on the ground. Even the depth of the trenches was different from ours, and we were made to distinguish the different Russian vehicles without being told how to react if they came at us." Since his return, Yeyhen, like many others, has been learning about new weapons and tactics on YouTube.

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