1 month ago 19

Nearly Fifth of Ukraine’s Soldiers AWOL Amid Collapse in Morale

Ukraine's deep manpower shortage has overshadowed the steady flow of Western arms deliveries. Against the backdrop of Russia’s steady advance, Kiev regime military personnel have been surrendering and deserting in droves, while over a million men of military age are estimated to be on the run across Ukraine.

Almost a fifth of Ukraine’s soldiers have gone AWOL from their positions, The Economist cited a source in the general staff as saying.

An overwhelming collapse in morale on the front line amid Russia’s steady advance is driving mass desertion, a senior Ukrainian military commander has claimed.

Despite more Western weapons in the pipeline for Ukraine, these is a “breakdown of trust between society, the army and the political leadership” in Kiev, according to the outlet. It added that Ukraine has been struggling to replace vast battlefield losses with conscription, “barely hitting two-thirds of its target.”

🗣 Ukraine's losses exceeded 26,000 soldiers in the past month in the Kursk direction! - Putin#BRICS2024 pic.twitter.com/gm2u3ZlGde

— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) October 24, 2024

Rampant draft dodging and desertion forced the Volodymyr Zelensky regime to adopt a new draconian mobilization law this year, while also lowering the recruitment age from 27 to 25.

Ukrainian refugees show zero enthusiasm to join Zelensky's Ukrainian Legion

The widely advertised Ukrainian Legion has yet to begin recruitment in Poland, despite Warsaw signaling its readiness to train Ukrainian volunteers residing abroad since August 1, according to the Polish… pic.twitter.com/wpFAe1SZVs

— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) September 9, 2024

Ukrainians are increasingly resisting being sent into the meat grinder of a proxy conflict. Earlier, in October, Ukrainian media reported that since the beginning of 2022, the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office has registered some 60,000 criminal cases of unauthorized abandonment of a unit and about 30,000 cases of desertion.