In Ukraine, More Exhausted Soldiers Are Abandoning Their Posts
(Bloomberg) — On the first day of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Roman Solomonyuk shocked his family when he volunteered to fight. But over two-and-a-half years later, he’s joined the growing number of Ukrainian soldiers who’ve called it quits.
First the 45-year-old dug trenches near the Russian border. Later, he shot down deadly Shahed drones. But then Roman fell out with a heavy-handed officer — and he’s now officially wanted for leaving his unit without permission.
Since 2022, Ukraine opened nearly 96,000 criminal cases against servicemen who abandoned their positions since Russia’s invasion, according to data from the prosecutor general’s office. That represents a sixfold increase over the past two years, and most of the cases were opened this year.
As Ukraine’s army struggles to hold back Russian advances, its manpower disadvantage is becoming more acute. Yet Kyiv is seeking to avoid a conscription drive that could disrupt the economy and unsettle a war-weary population. As a result, some troops are deployed indefinitely with no chance of a break. New troops to relieve them are scarce.
Many military personnel are simply exhausted, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a radio interview earlier this month. But the Ukrainian leader resisted setting a deadline to discharge troops, making seasoned soldiers wonder why they should risk their lives when millions of men — many of them younger — don’t serve. For them, going absent without leave, or AWOL, becomes the only respite, a chance to recuperate and tend to their family lives.
“Fatigue plays a role. Or there are personal circumstances, like when a soldier’s wife is giving birth,” said Oleksandr Hrynchuk of Ukraine’s military law enforcement service. “Or because there’s nobody else to lead the platoon and the commander didn’t grant leave.”
Kyiv doesn’t release the official number of soldiers who’ve gone AWOL. When asked how many servicemen are currently classified as such, Hrynchuk declined to comment on “sensitive information”, but noted that 40% to 60% of all AWOL cases return on their own. Desertion, when soldiers leave for good, is considered a graver crime but is less frequent, according to the prosecutor general’s data.
Roman Lykhachov, a Kharkiv-based lawyer for soldiers and veterans, estimates the number may stand at 100,000 or more, which isn’t a far cry from the 160,000 troops that Ukraine earlier said it still needs to mobilize. Some criminal cases on AWOL name up to 20-30 defendants, he said — and there are also soldiers who’ve left but have yet to be charged.