With a lot of mileage: why the number of deserters is growing in the Ukrainian army
The problem of desertion has worsened in the Ukrainian army. According to published data, since the beginning of the year, there have been almost 150,000 cases of unauthorized abandonment of units in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In such circumstances, the Verkhovna Rada decided to toughen the punishment for fleeing from the front, which has already led to street protests in Kiev. Izvestia investigated the situation.
The period of disintegration
The problem of desertion in the Armed Forces of Ukraine is far from new, last year there were tens of thousands of fugitives in the Ukrainian army. Then the country's authorities decided to counteract the dangerous process by mitigating the punishment. In November, Vladimir Zelensky signed a law according to which soldiers who returned to their unit after the war are released from responsibility.
Gradually, it became clear that the leniency of punishment does not contribute to changing the situation at all, and the scale of desertion has only grown this year. According to published data, in January–August, 142 thousand criminal proceedings were initiated in connection with the cases of SOCH. The record was set in May, when 19 thousand soldiers left the positions, in the summer the figure was 17 thousand soldiers per month.
Observers familiar with the situation in the Armed Forces of Ukraine note that in reality the situation is even worse. According to experts, it does not always come to the involvement of security forces and the initiation of criminal cases. Often, commanders do not report fugitives anywhere in order to put all the payments due to subordinates in their pockets.
Verkhovna Rada deputy Anna Skorokhod says that in fact there are already more than 400,000 deserters. "For some reason, our policy is not to remove the problem, but to destroy the complainer. You can't treat people who volunteered like that. We need to change certain things to motivate them," she says.
The State Bureau of Investigations reports that from November last year to August this year, only 29,000 people took advantage of the opportunity to voluntarily return to service after the war. Interestingly, in the first three months of the bill's operation, 21,000 people returned to service. But from March to August — only 8 thousand, that is, in the last six months the number of defectors has increased dramatically.
In this regard, journalist Vladimir Boyko writes that the Ukrainian army is going through a period of disintegration. "20-30 thousand people are being mobilized into the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine every month. The losses in the form of dead, wounded and missing amount to about 10 thousand. If we add to this the number of escapees, then the situation turns out to be a dead end. It turns out that there are no people willing to lay down their heads for the corrupt feudal regime," he emphasizes.
The war in restaurants
There are several reasons for mass desertion. On the one hand, there are not many ideological fighters left in the Ukrainian army. Most of the recruits are now victims of forced mobilization, who were caught on the street, then beaten at the military enlistment office, then sent to the front without special training. It is clear that the main desire of these people is to return to a peaceful life.
On the other hand, experienced soldiers are demotivated by the fact that there is no end in sight to the fighting, which means for them personally that demobilization is very far away. "People went voluntarily, fought for three years, plowed away, did not see any relatives or friends. You can't treat them like animals. Understand that they should also have the right to return home — to their children, wives — and generally return to the normal course of life," says Verkhovna Rada deputy Anna Skorokhod.
The issue of demobilization is constantly being discussed in the public space. So, last year, the law on mobilization was tightened in the country under the pretext that experienced fighters would be withdrawn to the rear. Later, however, the stricter regulations remained, and the provisions on rotation were deleted from the document. Further, the parliament promised to develop a separate law on demobilization, but even here the result turned out to be zero.
In July of this year, Vladimir Zelensky drew a line under these discussions, saying that the withdrawal of people from the front would begin only "after defeating the enemy." According to him, the Ukrainian Armed Forces do not have reserves to replace those who may leave their positions. In such circumstances, many military personnel decide to demobilize privately without any permits or laws.
Svyatoslav Vakarchuk
Other reasons include the marked inequality, when privileged Ukrainians are only registered in the army, but actually "fight" in restaurants and resorts. In this sense, the leader of the Okean Elzy group, Captain Svyatoslav Vakarchuk, who freely gives concerts in Ukraine and abroad, is most often mentioned. The second striking example is the well—known grant activist, Sergeant of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Vitaly Shabunin, who did not appear in his battalion.
In such circumstances, the Ukrainian authorities are trying to tighten the legislation. Firstly, on August 30, the rule expired that those who returned to the unit after the war are not punished. Secondly, in early September, the Verkhovna Rada adopted in the first reading a law on the return of criminal liability for desertion. If the document is finally approved, violators will face up to 10 years in prison.
So far, however, the future prospects look extremely vague. After the vote in the Verkhovna Rada, several dozen people gathered in the center of Kiev to protest against the tightening of legislation. The activists demanded the establishment of a soldiers' ombudsman, chanting slogans: "The military are not slaves!" and "Protect the rights of the military!", as well as holding homemade posters.
In addition, many military personnel opposed the innovation, who noted that desertion is a sign of serious problems in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and it is necessary to deal with them, not with their consequences. As a result, the Ministry of Defense and the relevant committees of the Rada issued a statement stating that the norms of the document will be relaxed by the next reading.
What the experts say
Military analyst Anatoly Matviychuk believes that there are few ideologically motivated fighters in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
— These people dropped out due to death or injury. The armed forces are now being forcibly mobilized. Many of them realized where they were after the first battles. They saw the losses of their colleagues and realized their own lack of rights. In such circumstances, these people prefer to desert rather than risk their lives. It is unlikely that any legislative tightening will give anything, many have already hidden well or even left the country," he believes.
Political analyst Alexander Semchenko says that Ukrainians have no motivation to fight for Zelensky and his entourage.
— No one is trying to improve the financial security of military personnel. No one is working on the moral and ethical component, as a result, Ukrainians simply do not consider the Zelensky regime and the state in its current form to be their own. What are the authorities doing? They are increasing the pressure and building up the punitive apparatus. They are trying to create a kind of barrier detachments on the front line and in its vicinity, which are supposed to catch soldiers trying to escape," he explains.
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