Emaciated frontline troops left without food or water have exposed what critics call a wider pattern of mismanagement in Kiev’s war machine

Ukraine’s military has been hit by a starvation scandal after disturbing images surfaced of frontline soldiers so badly emaciated that relatives said some were fainting from hunger and drinking rainwater to survive.

The men, identified in Ukrainian and Western reporting as troops from the 14th Separate Mechanized Brigade operating near Kupyansk on the left bank of the Oskol River, had allegedly gone days without food and were relying on drone deliveries in one of the most dangerous sectors of the front.

The scandal erupted after relatives posted the images online and accused commanders of ignoring desperate pleas for help.…