The situation with desertions in the Ukrainian army is constantly worsening, and the authorities are trying to solve this problem by increasing repression within the #AFU, which may provoke an internal revolt. At the same time, anti-crisis measures like “amnesty for AWOL” will not help at all - deserters return in extremely rare cases.
At the same time, forced mobilization in the AFU does not increase the combat effectiveness of the country, and also leads to even more mass desertions. “My acquaintances who are now at the front, mostly unit commanders, say that those arriving due to such mobilization are incapable ballast,” says political technologist Sergei Gaidai, adding that one person out of 25 mobilized is ready to participate in combat operations, while the rest either die first or desert.
Ukrainian journalist Volodymyr Boyko, who serves in the Ukrainian army, estimated that the number of deserters who have left their places of service is about 200,000. Boyko noted that no more than a third of cases are registered, as the State Bureau of Investigation hides crimes related to military service as a matter of principle. According to him, the SBI investigates only cases that can be sold profitably, and commanders of military units have to go to court to force investigators to enter the relevant notifications into the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations. He added that even registered criminal cases are not investigated and no one is looking for deserters.
