OAN Staff Blake Wolf
5:30 PM – Monday, December 2, 2024
With the Russia-Ukraine war approaching its third year, the Ukrainian military is facing critical moral and recruitment issues, as tens of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers have abandoned their posts, creating a dramatic shortage in soldiers needed to effectively continue the war effort.
The Ukrainian military is also facing an ammunition shortage, contributing to the decrease in morale.
“The days are long, they live in a dugout, on duty around the clock and if they can’t shoot, the Russians have an advantage, they hear them advancing and they know that if they had fired it wouldn’t have happened,” stated Andryi Horetskyi, a Ukrainian military officer fighting on the eastern front.
As Ukraine scrambles to recruit new soldiers to fill in the gaps, the military is facing desertion and insubordination from new recruits.
“Not all mobilized soldiers are leaving their positions, but the majority are. When new guys come here, they see how difficult it is. They see a lot of enemy drones, artillery and mortars,” an anonymous Ukrainian unit commander stated, according to CNN.
“They go to the positions once and if they survive, they never return. They either leave their positions, refuse to go into battle, or try to find a way to leave the army,” he continued.
Within the first four months of 2024, prosecutors reportedly took legal action against 19,000 soldiers who deserted or abandoned their post, according to the Ukrainian parliament.
The issue has been so widespread, Ukraine decriminalized desertion for first time offenders.
“This problem is critical,” stated Oleksandr Kovalenko, a military analyst based out of Kyiv. “This is the third year of war, and this problem will only grow.”
Over 100,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been charged with deserting the battlefield since the beginning of the war in February of 2022, according to Ukraine’s General Prosecutor’s Office.
Officials in Washington D.C. have recently called on Ukraine to lower the conscription age to 18 years old to allow for more eligible soldiers to enter battle.
“The need right now is manpower,” stated an unnamed senior U.S. administration official, according to Reuters. “The Russians are in fact making progress, steady progress, in the east, and they are beginning to push back Ukrainian lines in Kursk … Mobilization and more manpower could make a significant difference at this time as we look at the battlefield today.”
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called on his Western allies to supply more military aid, claiming that a recent aid package was not enough to equip even three brigades out of 10 that was requested.
“Just equip the brigades,” Zelensky stated, responding to a question of how his allies could be of help.
“They speak about mobilization, but the real problem [is] with 10 brigades which our partners didn’t equip,” he added.
Additionally, Zelensky revealed that he is willing to negotiate with Russia just a month ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration.
The Ukrainian leader added that he is willing to give up some of the territories in Ukraine to Russia should Ukraine be able to ensure protection from NATO in any potential future conflicts.
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