Tens of thousands of soldiers deserted the Ukrainian army

More than 100,000 soldiers have been charged under Ukraine’s desertion laws since Russia’s invasion in 2022, according to the country’s prosecutor general.

The desertion deprives the Ukrainian army of desperately needed troops and cripples its battle plans at a crucial moment in its war with Russia.

Faced with every shortage imaginable, tens of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers, tired and destitute, have left the fighting and front-line positions to sink into anonymity, according to Ukrainian soldiers, lawyers and officials. Entire units abandoned their posts, leaving defensive lines vulnerable and accelerating territorial losses, according to military commanders and soldiers.

Some take sick leave and never return, haunted by the trauma of war and demoralized by the bleak prospects of victory. Others clash with commanders and refuse to carry out orders, sometimes amid exchanges of fire.

“This problem is critical,” said Oleksandr Kovalenko, a kyiv-based military analyst. “This is the third year of war and this problem will only get worse.”

Although Moscow also faces desertions, the fleeing Ukrainians have laid bare deep-rooted problems plaguing their military and kyiv’s handling of the war, from the flawed mobilization campaign to overexploitation and exhaustion front line units. It comes as the United States urges Ukraine to recruit more troops and allow the conscription of people as young as 18.

The Associated Press spoke with two defectors, three lawyers and a dozen Ukrainian officials and military commanders. Officials and commanders spoke on condition of anonymity to disclose classified information, while one defector did so because he feared prosecution.

“It is clear that now, frankly, we have already got the best out of our people,” said an officer of the 72nd brigade, who pointed out that desertion was one of the main reasons why Ukraine lost the town of Vuhledar in October.

More than 100,000 soldiers have been charged under Ukraine’s desertion laws since Russia’s invasion in February 2022, according to the country’s prosecutor general’s office.

Nearly half of them have gone on the run in the last year alone, after kyiv launched an aggressive and controversial mobilization campaign that government officials and military commanders acknowledge largely failed.

This is an incredibly high number by any measure, since it is estimated that around 300,000 Ukrainian troops were engaged in combat before the mobilization campaign began. And the actual number of deserters could be much higher. One lawmaker familiar with military matters estimated the number could be as high as 200,000.

Many deserters do not return after being granted sick leave. Tired by the constancy of war, they are psychologically and emotionally scarred. They feel guilty for failing to muster the will to fight, angry at the way the war effort is being conducted, and frustrated because it seems impossible to win.

“Staying silent in the face of a huge problem only harms our country,” said Serhii Hnezdilov, one of the few soldiers to speak publicly about his choice to desert. He was charged shortly after his interview with the AP in September.

Another deserter said he initially left his infantry unit with permission because he needed surgery. Once his leave was over, he couldn’t bring himself to come back.

He still has nightmares about the comrades he saw being killed.

“The best way to explain it is to imagine that you are sitting under incoming fire and from their (Russian) side there are 50 shells coming towards you, while from our side there are none. than one. Then you see how your friends are torn to pieces and you realize that at any moment this could happen to you,” he said.

“Meanwhile, guys (Ukrainian soldiers) 10 kilometers away are ordering you on the radio: ‘Come on, get ready.’ Everything will be fine,” he said.

Hnezdilov also left to seek medical help. Before undergoing surgery, he announced that he was deserting. He said that after five years of military service, he saw no hope of ever being discharged, despite previous promises by the country’s leaders.

“If there is no limit (on military service), it turns into prison. It becomes psychologically difficult to find reasons to defend this country,” Hnezdilov said.

Desertion has turned battle plans into sand that slips through the fingers of military commanders.

The AP has learned of cases in which defensive lines were seriously compromised because entire units defied orders and abandoned their positions.

“Due to the lack of political will and poor management of troops, especially infantry, we are certainly not moving in the direction of adequate defense of the territories we currently control,” Hnezdilov said.

The Ukrainian army recorded a deficit of 4,000 soldiers on the front in September, largely due to deaths, injuries and desertions, according to an MP. Most of the deserters were recent recruits.

The head of the legal department of a brigade, responsible for processing desertion cases and transmitting them to the police, said he had had many.

“The main thing is that they leave their combat positions during hostilities and their comrades die as a result. We have had several situations where units fled, large or small. They exposed their flanks, and the enemy came to those flanks and killed their brothers in arms, because those standing in the positions did not know that there was no one else around.” , said the official.

That’s how Vuhledar, a hilltop town that Ukraine defended for two years, was lost within weeks in October, said the officer of the 72nd Brigade, which was one of the very last to stand. withdraw.

The 72nd was already running out of steam in the weeks before the fall of Vuhledar. Only one line battalion and two rifle battalions held the city toward the end, and military leaders even began withdrawing units from it to support the flanks, the officer said. There should have been 120 men in each of the battalion’s companies, but the ranks of some companies fell to as few as 10 due to deaths, injuries and desertions, he said. About 20% of the soldiers missing from these companies had gone on the run.

“The percentage is growing exponentially every month,” he added.

Reinforcements were sent once Russia became aware of Ukraine’s weakened position and attacked. But then the reinforcements also left, the officer said. For this reason, when one of the battalions of the 72nd Brigade withdrew, its members were shot because they did not know that no one was covering them, he explained.

However, the officer feels no ill will towards the deserters.

“At this stage, I do not condemn any of the soldiers in my battalion and others. Because everyone is really tired,” he said.

Prosecutors and the military would prefer not to press charges against the fleeing soldiers and would do so only if they could not convince them to return, according to three military officers and a spokesman for the State Bureau of Investigation. Ukrainian state. Some deserters return, only to leave again.

Ukraine’s General Staff said soldiers were receiving psychological support, but it did not respond to emailed questions about the toll of battlefield desertions.

Once soldiers are charged, it is difficult to defend them, said two lawyers who handle these cases. They focus on the psychological state of their clients at the time of their departure.

“People cannot psychologically cope with the situation they find themselves in and do not receive any psychological help,” said lawyer Tetyana Ivanova.

Soldiers acquitted of desertion for psychological reasons set a dangerous precedent because “then almost everyone is justified (in leaving), because there are almost no healthy people left (in the infantry),” he said. she declared.

Soldiers considering deserting sought his advice. Several were sent to fight near Vuhledar.

“They wouldn’t have taken the territory, they wouldn’t have conquered anything, but no one would have come back,” she said.

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