At a pivotal point in its conflict with Russia, the Ukrainian army is being deprived of much-needed manpower and its battle preparations are being severely damaged by desertion, which might clearly hurt Kyiv in any future peace negotiations.
According to soldiers, attorneys, and Ukrainian officials, tens of thousands of weary and distraught Ukrainian servicemen have left battle and front-line positions to withdraw into secrecy due to every conceivable lack. According to military commanders and soldiers, entire units have left their posts, making defensive lines weak and speeding up territorial losses.
Some others seek medical leave and never come back because they are depressed by the slim chances of winning and are tormented by the horrors of war. Others, occasionally during firefights, argue with superiors and refuse to follow orders.
Oleksandr Kovalenko, a military analyst based in Kyiv, stated that this issue is crucial. The battle is in its third year, and the issue will only become worse.
Ukrainians going missing have exposed long-standing issues with their military and how Kyiv is handling the conflict, from the faulty mobilization push to the overstretching and hollowing out of front-line troops, even though Moscow has also been grappling with desertions. It occurs as the United States calls on Ukraine to increase troop conscription and permit the enlistment of individuals as young as 18.
A dozen Ukrainian officials and military leaders, three lawyers, and two deserters were interviewed by the Associated Press. One deserter did so out of fear of being prosecuted, while officials and commanders talked on condition of anonymity to provide confidential information.
Desertion was one of the primary reasons Ukraine lost the town of Vuhledar in October, according to an official with the 72nd Brigade. “It is evident that now, honestly speaking, we have already squeezed the maximum out of our people,” the man said.
The soldiers who leave
According to Ukraine’s General Prosecutor’s Office, since Russia invaded in February 2022, more than 100,000 soldiers have been charged under the country’s desertion rules.
Following Kyiv’s ambitious and contentious mobilization campaign, which both military commanders and administration officials acknowledge has mostly failed, nearly half have gone missing in the past year alone.
Before the mobilization push started, an estimated 300,000 Ukrainian soldiers were fighting, thus this is an extremely high number by any standard. And there might be a lot more deserters in reality. According to one lawmaker with experience in military affairs, it might reach 200,000.
After being given medical leave, many deserters never come back. They are emotionally and psychologically damaged and bone-tired from the constant rigor of combat. They are frustrated that the war effort appears to be unwinnable, angry at the way it is being directed, and guilty about not having the resolve to fight.
Serhii Hnezdilov, one of the few troops who openly discuss his decision to leave, stated that keeping quiet about a significant issue only hurts our nation. Shortly after his September interview with the AP, he was charged.
According to another deserter, he was given permission to leave his army unit at first because he needed surgery. When his leave ended, he was unable to force himself to go back.
He continues to have dreams about the friends he witnessed being slaughtered.
The easiest way to convey it is to picture yourself sitting under incoming fire, with 50 shells going toward you from their (Russian) side and just one from ours. He stated, “Then you see how your friends are being ripped to pieces and you realize that it could happen to you at any moment.”
On the radio, men (Ukrainian military) ten kilometers (6 miles) distant give you the command to proceed and brace yourselves. He assured them that everything would be alright.
Hnezdilov went out to get medical attention as well. He declared he was deserting before to surgery. Despite earlier assurances from the nation’s leadership, he stated that after five years of military duty, he saw no chance of ever being demobilized.
“It becomes psychologically difficult to find reasons to defend this country if there is no end term (to military service),” Hnezdilov remarked.
An increasing issue for Kyiv
Battle plans have become sand that eludes military commanders due to desertion.
The AP was informed of incidents where entire troops disobeyed instructions and left their posts, seriously jeopardizing defense lines.
We are definitely not heading in the right way to effectively defend the areas that we currently hold, according to Hnezdilov, due to a lack of political will and inadequate troop management, particularly in the infantry.
According to a lawmaker, deaths, injuries, and desertions were the main causes of Ukraine’s military’s 4,000-man shortfall on the front in September. The majority of deserters were new recruits.
He has had a lot of desertion cases, according to the commander of one brigade’s legal service, which handles processing them and sending them to law enforcement.
Most importantly, they abandon battle positions during hostilities, which results in the deaths of their comrades. Units of various sizes escaped in a number of instances. The official claimed that because those standing on the positions were unaware that no one else was nearby, the enemy attacked their exposed sides and killed their comrades in arms.
According to the 72nd Brigade officer, who was one of the last to leave, that is how Vuhledar, a mountain town that Ukraine defended for two years, was lost in a matter of weeks in October.
In the weeks prior to Vuhledar’s fall, the 72nd was already overworked. According to the commander, military leaders even started removing units from the two rifle battalions and one line battalion that held the town at the end in order to support the flanks. According to him, each battalion’s company should have had 120 soldiers, but because of deaths, injuries, and desertions, some companies’ ranks fell to just 10. Twenty percent or so of the soldiers who were missing from those companies had disappeared.
Every month, the percentage has increased enormously, he continued.
After Russia invaded after realizing Ukraine’s vulnerable situation, reinforcements were deployed. However, the officer stated that the reinforcements also departed. As a result, he added, soldiers of one of the 72nd Brigade battalions were shot dead when it withdrew because they were unaware that no one was watching them.
The officer does not, however, have any animosity for deserters.
As of right now, I do not hold any of the soldiers in my unit or others accountable. “Because everybody is simply exhausted,” he remarked.
Deserters being charged
Prosecutors and the military would rather not press charges against AWOL soldiers and do so only if they fail to persuade them to return, according to three military officers and a spokesperson for Ukraine s State Investigative Bureau. After returning, some deserters depart once more.
Ukraine s General Staff said soldiers are given psychological support, but it didn t respond to emailed questions about the toll desertions are having on the battlefield.
Once soldiers are charged, defending them is tricky, said two lawyers who take such cases. They focus on their clients psychological state when they left.
People cannot psychologically cope with the situation they are in, and they are not provided with psychological help, said attorney Tetyana Ivanova.
Soldiers acquitted of desertion due to psychological reasons set a dangerous precedent because then almost everyone is justified (to leave), because there are almost no healthy people left (in the infantry), she said.
Soldiers considering deserting have sought her advice. Several were being sent to fight near Vuhledar.
They would not have taken the territory, they would not have conquered anything, but no one would have returned, she said.
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