When Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine three years ago, Viktor* was ready to die for his country. He volunteered to defend Kyiv as enemy tanks appeared and joined Ukraine’s armed forces. In the spring of 2023 he was fighting in the village of Tonenke, near the eastern city of Avdiivka. “When I arrived I was super-motivated. If necessary I would give my life,” he recalled.
Gradually, however, he became disillusioned. The battle was furious. “The Russians would smash our positions to the ground,” he said. Senior Ukrainian commanders gave unrealistic orders. Then, while he was defending a ruined building, a panel fell on his shoulder. After receiving injections to reduce the pain, he was told to return to the front. “I realised I’m nobody. Just a number,” he said.
Once a trained sniper, Viktor is one of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers who have abandoned their units. Photograph: Anastasia Vlasova/The GuardianIn May that same year, Viktor left his position to seek further medical treatment. He did not come back. His commander marked him down as awol. Viktor is one of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers who have abandoned their units. The exact figure is a military secret, but officials concede the number is large. They say it is understandable, when tired troops have served for months without a proper break.
The issue of desertion has made headlines in Ukraine. Last week the government launched an investigation into the 155th Mechanised Brigade. Fifty-six soldiers disappeared while training in France. Hundreds of others are said to be missing. The unit’s commander, Dmytro Riumshyn, was arrested. He faces 10 years in jail for failing to carry out his official duties and to report unauthorised absences.
After three years of war, Ukraine is desperately short of soldiers, especially infantry. This has made it easier for Russia’s army to advance in the east. There are structural issues too. New brigades have been built from scratch. They performed poorly. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, recently ordered a change in policy, with inexperienced recruits integrated into existing battalions.
Viktor recalls being given a 10-day break, only to be recalled a day later when Avdiivka fell under attack. Photograph: Anastasia Vlasova/The GuardianSome who desert keep a low profile. Others live and work openly. Viktor said he went back to his brigade in August 2023 but was told he was not wanted. Once a trained sniper, he now runs a garage in western Ukraine, where he repairs military vehicles for free. Had he killed Russians? “Many,” he replied. “Everybody is tired. The mood has changed. People used to hug soldiers in the streets. Now they worry about being conscripted.”
Viktor added there was a severe lack of frontline manpower. In February 2023 he was given a 10-day break – only to be recalled a day after he got home, as Avdiivka came under attack. Two people from his company had been killed, he said. The others were wounded. “One guy lost an arm. Another a leg. Some had bullet wounds. Nobody is completely OK. Even so, we managed to achieve some tasks,” he said.
Another deserter, Oleksii*, said he took part in Ukrainian offensives in the southern Mykolaiv and Kherson regions. He described one battle as chaotic, with bullets flying, mortars landing in a forest clearing, and insufficient artillery support. During the winter of 2022 he had a row with a new commander, applied unsuccessfully for a transfer, and got hurt. “I reached boiling point. So I decided to go where nobody can find me,” he said.
Olha Reshetylova, Ukraine’s first military ombudsperson, says many service members end up with fragile mental health. Photograph: Jelle Krings/The GuardianEver since, Oleksii has been in hiding. “We will see what happens. Maybe I get caught and sent to the frontline,” he said. He added he would take up arms again if the Russians came into his town, or if the Ukrainian army became a genuinely reformed Nato style force, with better generals. Asked if he was happy, he answered: “I’m alive. The longer the war goes on the more people like me there will be.”
Olha Reshetylova, Ukraine’s commissioner for protecting service members’ rights, said she understood why some people went awol. “Let’s be honest. The problem is big. It’s natural in a situation where you’ve had three years of major war. People are exhausted. They want to see their families. Their children are growing up without them. Relationships get broken. Wives and husbands can’t wait for ever. They feel alone.”
She said many service members ended up with fragile mental health. A small conflict with a senior officer could “trigger” them to flee their unit, she said. There were injuries too. “It’s a complex and complicated problem. We can’t solve this with criminal punishment. If it comes to a choice between being killed and going to prison, of course at that moment you will go with the second option.”
Reshetylova is a well-known human rights activist. She took up her newly created post in January at the request of Zelenskyy. Her role is to balance the needs of the state with fairness to individuals. “We have this post-Soviet heritage where a soldier is slave to his commander. But Ukraine’s army is transforming. We are trying to change it, to make it more modern and human-orientated,” she said, in an interview in Kyiv.
Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, has been debating how to bring in more recruits. Deserters face between 12 and 15 years in jail. Last summer, deputies abolished criminal penalties for those who voluntarily return to their old battalions, with full benefits restored. A bill has also been passed that allows service members to transfer to different units – getting round lingering conflicts between lower and higher ranks.
Reshetylova said transfers were unpopular with commanders, who blocked them because they were short of troops. The government is working on a solution, she said, allowing applications to be made via the ministry of defence’s Army+ app. Meanwhile, changes are being drafted to attract 18- to 25-year-olds, who are currently exempt from mobilisation. They include training guarantees and measures to ensure dialogue between soldiers and commanders.
Andrii Hrebeniuk, the commander of an infantry battalion of the 110th mechanised brigade, fighting in the town of Velyka Novosilka. Photograph: Alessio Mamo/The GuardianAndrii Hrebeniuk, the sergeant major of an infantry battalion, fighting in the Donetsk oblast town of Velyka Novosilka, said soldiers went awol “pretty frequently”. “Some return. Some don’t,” he said. “It’s about morale more than injury. They need a psychological reset. They go and see their families and reappear after a couple of months.” Did he understand them? “I don’t sympathise and I don’t condemn,” he replied.
Hrebeniuk’s mechanised brigade, the 110th, last week took the unusual step of saying it was critically short of personnel. It had enough drones and artillery, but no infantry, at a time of constant Russian attacks. “We need to break the stereotype that if you join up you will be dead in five minutes,” Hrebeniuk said. He added: “Simple things keep you alive, like digging in, cleaning your weapons, and paying attention during first aid training.”
Reshetylova said there were hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers staying in their positions and “not going anywhere”. The recruitment crisis could be solved, she added, if Ukraine’s allies sent their own troops. If they did not, and Kyiv fell, Vladimir Putin would keep going. She said: “As I see it, it is Europe’s armies that are absent without leave. They don’t understand – or don’t want to understand – that this is their war too.”
*Names have been changed