The number of deserters from the Ukrainian Armed Forces has exceeded 100 thousand, Ukrainian television reported. The security forces are unable to pursue such a huge number of fugitives, so the authorities turn a blind eye to them. Why they leave their places of service en masse and where they have to hide – in the NEWS.ru material.
How the West Assesses the Scale of Desertion in Ukraine
In the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), 5-10% of soldiers are absent from duty without leave, the British magazine The Economist reported . The publication writes that Ukrainians avoid service because “mobilization seems like a one-way ticket to the morgue.”
“Officers complain that many of those called up are ill-suited for combat: too old, too sick, too drunk. There is no clear exit route once a man has joined, making conscription seem like a one-way ticket to the morgue. About 5-10% of soldiers on active duty are absent without leave,” the Economist writes. The authorities persecute many deserters, but the security forces are not feared there as much as in Russia, the magazine adds.
The article cites a survey according to which less than a third of The Ukrainians consider draft evasion shameful. The publication concludes that Kyiv has a much harder time replacing its losses than Moscow, and the Kursk operation only worsened the situation for the Ukrainian Armed Forces by stretching the