Many soldiers are exhausted and demoralized, and commanders make mistakes and succumb to corruption. The Ukrainian military leadership is increasingly criticized, ARD writes.
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, at least 60,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been absent from their units without permission. Half of them - about 30,000 - are considered deserters. This means that they are either hiding in the country or have left it illegally, writes the German public-law media ARD.
In the past year, the number of deserters has increased sharply, according to data from the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office. There are many reasons for this, the publication adds.
Structural problems, mass attrition
On the one hand, the Ukrainian army is currently much larger than it was at the beginning of the war. And desertion is a well-known phenomenon in many armies, especially after years of intense fighting. In addition, many Ukrainian soldiers simply return to their units late, but are taken as having withdrawn from service, the German publication emphasizes.
However, the intensity of the fighting and the bureaucratic chaos do not explain the significantly increased number of those who have deviated from military service. Rather, structural problems in the army are being compounded by mass exhaustion and a lack of prospects among servicemen, the ARD publication also says.
Harsh criticism of the military leadership
Journalist Yuri Butusov has studied the issue of deserters and has harshly criticized the Ukrainian leadership: "This is a problem of the system, of inadequate, incompetent military planning," he says.
Butusov speaks of inexperienced commanders and soldiers, some of whom were drafted into the army against their will. There are videos showing brutal treatment of those mobilized in military recruitment centers. Men fit for military service are being forced onto buses on the street, writes ARD.
Corruption and abuse of power
Another criticism concerns the weak and ineffective training of new soldiers. Because of this, many of the recruits arrive at the front unprepared and scared and are looking for a way out, says Ukrainian MP Roman Kostenko, quoted by the German publication.
However, it is not only the recruits who are fleeing. Corruption and abuse of power in the armed forces are exhausting even professional soldiers like Misha. The 26-year-old from eastern Ukraine served for five years before fleeing - with three other servicemen - through Romania to Italy. "I would still be fighting if we had normal commanders and a good government," he says.
In an interview with ARD, Misha recounts how his unit commander began demanding regular payments from his subordinates, disguised as donations for equipment, drones or generators.
"For my first leave, I had to buy him a bulletproof vest," says Misha, whose last name is not mentioned for security reasons. Then the commander, who treated him like a slave, demanded to provide him with Starlink equipment (for fast internet at the front), which costs several hundred euros, ARD explains. In addition, soldiers were sent to the front line as punishment. Misha also testifies to senseless and sometimes fatal decisions of the commanders for the soldiers.
These are serious accusations that cannot be verified or confirmed by independent sources, the German public-law media outlet specifies.
However, there is also other evidence of commanders exceeding their rights, ARD further writes and tells in detail the case of another Ukrainian soldier named Danilo. After spending months in the trenches, he was finally granted leave from which he never returned. Danilo also accuses his immediate commander of abuses, including violence against him and other soldiers.
"It is very difficult to stay in the trenches when the enemy is in front, who keeps shelling you, and behind you are people you cannot trust at all," Danilo told ARD.
The Foreign Minister's Confession
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sibikha said that the leadership is aware of all these weaknesses and assured that the necessary lessons have been learned. In this regard, he thanked Ukraine's partners for their recommendations.
Critics are demanding that President Volodymyr Zelensky strengthen existing brigades, provide better training for recruits and be uncompromising in relation to abuse of power in the army, ARD also emphasizes.