“We have empty trenches.” Ukrainians reveal why they desert. “Out of 15, eight died. Nobody was even looking for me”
The young man went to the training center. He didn't stay there for a long time because he got sick. According to him, new conscripts found themselves in the basement, where asbestos was once stored.
They covered it with debris and put the beds on it. We all inhaled this dust. After some time, it began to be sick. But I didn't have any medications there. I asked for them, so they sent me to the medics. They measured me the temperature, gave me nasal drops, soluble powder. They left us in the isolation for a few days – describes Ruslan.
At night, a soldier had to move to a cold bunker because of anti -aircraft alarms. Ukrainians only had thin blankets at their disposal.
According to the Ukrainian spokeswoman for the rights of soldiers, Olha Reszetiłowa, most registered desertions concern training centers. He claims that new conscripts leave training centers in the first week of training or at the end, before going to military formations.
“The problem of desertion is in fact complex and begins before the recruits become soldiers,” wrote Restiłów in a Facebook post in March, adding that her office plans to launch an experimental project, under which psychologists or lawyers will work with soldiers in training centers to explain, among others, what are their rights.
“This is a complex problem, which is associated with the fact that people are mobilized without sufficient motivation, and then look for all possible ways to avoid sending to the battlefield. When a person from the peaceful environment goes to the military environment, it is not easy from a psychological point of view,” said Fedir Venisławski in an interview with Radio Freedom, deputy on the part Mobilized men leave training centers.
“These are fairy tales”
“I want to go to the brigade I chose, but they don't want to release me from the one they put me in,” describes Ruslan, who arbitrarily left his unit.
The soldier had two reasons for leaving the training. First of all: he did not want to serve in a body where he had no friends or acquaintances. Secondly: he did not want to fight in Russia.
When Ruslan was asked by a military patrol at one of the control points near Kharkov to go with them, he would agree. He did not avoid mobilization, he registered wherever the state required it and regularly updated its data.
Because he reached the mobilization age, it was probably only a matter of time when one of the patrols he encountered would send him to the army.
– I didn't do any circus. They treated me normally. The only thing that disturbed me was the way of communication. You ask people in the recruitment center about specific things, but it remains unanswered. I told them I wanted to go to a specific brigade. But this did not happen. My mistake was that I did not volunteer before I was stopped at the control point – said Ruslan.
The soldier spent the whole day at the recruitment center. According to his own words, he underwent medical examinations in ten minutes, and after a whole day of waiting a group of mobilized men in which he found himself was taken to Kharkov.
– We got off the bus and marked us in the way you, you, you – you, you, you, you are not. I was among those who were told that we complied with. They congratulated us to be in the Marine Infantry Corps. I said I didn't agree that I want to go to land forces. They replied that I could be moved later. But these are fairy tales – says Ruslan.
From training to hospital – and from there home
– I caught a cold and from that moment it was getting worse with me. Although I returned to the training, I landed in a hospital with a heavy cough. From there I came home. Nobody forbade me, nobody even looked for me – says Ruslan
A Ukrainian soldier in a military vehicle in the Kharkiv region, April 14, 2025 (illustrative photos)
In this way Ruslan He became a deserter – One of the tens of thousands of men who gave up the army after long and tiring service or at the very beginning before they even reached the front.
– Although the first desertion is usually forgiven, they finally reported that I left on my own. The case went to the State Bureau of Investigation, which is investigating why and how I left. In the end it will end in court, and there I want to defend myself with the help of a lawyer. Now I'm waiting for what will happen – said the soldier.
Incompetent commanders
The subject of arbitrary desertion was widely discussed in Ukraine, especially in recent months, when it became clear that desertion is by no means a unit problem of the Ukrainian army.
It turned out that from the beginning of the Russian invasion about 100,000 Ukrainian soldiers left their garrison arbitrarily. This number in official statistics increased especially last year, when Ukraine registered 62,000. criminal proceedings against soldiers who left their units without permission.
The survey published in January by the Ukrainian website texts shows that the decision on desertion can be as spontaneous and deliberately made. 52 percent respondents left the army spontaneously, and 48 percent Those with whom sociologists interviewed the reasons for leaving left the army after a long thought.
The study showed that soldiers leave because of prolonged dissatisfaction and exhaustion or as a result of a violent response to a stressful event. Not only those who have been forced to get into the army, leave the army, but also those who joined it voluntarily.
According to experts, one of the key detection factors is the low level of professionalism of commanders. In units with talented and loyal commanders, desertion is minimal, but where soldiers meet with indifference, cruelty or incompetence on the part of commanders, the risk of desertion increases.
Almost half of the men who deserted stated in the survey that they would be willing to return to the army. However, they found that the army reform is crucial.
No mobilization
Ukraine has a problem with insufficient mobilization. The need to mobilize at least half a million more people was already discussed in 2023. Some experts indicate that Ukrainian political leadership is afraid of losing popularity, which is why he does not decide on this step. In turn, the country's management argued that there is nothing to equip such a large number of people. The government also pointed to the alleged inability to the training centers.
Today, in some circles of experts and military people, it is said that if Ukraine wants to resist the possible replay of the Russian invasion, it will have to follow the path of Israel, where the vast majority of the population is subject to compulsory consumption and mobilization.
In this context, it should be recalled that the Russian Federation is pressing on the so -called Demilitarization of Ukraine as part of peace negotiations. This means the opposite of what is said in Ukraine.
“When I talk about the conditions of service in the army, I say that the state should realize that every person in this country should be able to keep their weapons in their hands to replace a soldier in a trench. Because only then we will exist as a country bordering with Russia,” a soldier and activist Serhij Hnezdiłow said recently in an interview with Radio.
Last year, Hnezdiłow was one of those who drew attention to the previously ignored problem of desertion – he left his garrison himself and openly confessed to it in social media. As a reason for his departure, he reported that the government for three years was unable to take actions that would allow the demobilization of those who serve without interruption. Hnezdiłow was initially detained, he spent several months in custody. He finally returned to his unit.
In the case of demobilization, up to 100,000 people could leave Ukraine
Although the need for demobilization and the need for more frequent troops are still discussed, the bill regarding these two issues remains in the drawer of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense.
The act was not finally approved by a key institution – the Ukrainian army itself. The army apparently has no one who could replace those to whom the law would allow him to leave after 36 months.
According to the newspaper “Ukrainian truth”, citing sources in parliament, if the Supreme Council approved such an act, it could be demobilized to 108 thousand. soldiers, including 14 thousand officers.
Some soldiers who have been on the front from the beginning of the war are also opposed to demobilization. They claim that the departure of a large number of people – who also have three years of experience in battle – can lead to the collision of the front.
“We have empty trenches. What demobilization can we talk about? We don't even have funds for routine rotations,” said the “Ukrainian truth” by an officer of the Army Command.
According to the President of Ukraine, Wołodymyr Zelanski in 2024, the country was able to mobilize 30,000. soldiers per month. However, according to “Ukrainian truth”, this number was actually covered only in the first months after the adoption of the Act on the mobilization in spring 2024.
For example, the Act reduced the mobilization age from 27 to 25 years and imposed on men of mobilization age the obligation to update the data. Despite this, the pace of mobilization fell in Ukraine.
