In the fourth year of the war, many Ukrainian soldiers are at the edge of their strength - exhausted by endless military service and the lack of people to replace them. Discontent among the military is growing.
"This is absurd - we are fighting for the future of Ukraine without having our own future. We are fighting for freedom or death, but all we have left is death," Lesya Ganja, who serves in one of the brigades of the Ukrainian army, told DV.
“Uncertainty is the worst of all“, shares a fighter named “Kuzya“, a senior sergeant in the 28th mechanized brigade. “No one will replace us with this mobilization either. I cannot influence this, which is why I have resigned myself. I am here because it is necessary“, says Captain Oleksandr Pavlov, a battery commander in the 110th mechanized brigade.
The bill on demobilization in Ukraine
The law, whose discussion in Ukraine began at the end of 2023, provided for demobilization after three years in the army. Ultimately, in April 2024, the deputies adopted a law in which the terms of service were not recorded - at the request of the Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Army Oleksandr Syrsky.
Then again, the parliament obliged the Ministry of Defense to resolve the issue of demobilization within the next eight months. But by the end of last year, this had not happened. Recently, it became known that the Ministry of Defense had developed a bill on the terms of service back in January.
It provided for demobilization after three years of service, if 18 months of them were in the combat zone. But this initiative was not supported by the General Staff of the Army - because otherwise a large number of servicemen would have to be dismissed, which would have led to a "significant reduction in the personnel of combat units", as the ministry stated in response to a question from "Ukrainska Pravda". According to the publication, this is about 108,000 military personnel, of which 14,000 are officers.
The military did not believe in the recent demobilization
“The argument that there is no one to replace us with is very infantile and shifts the responsibility to those who have already shown it and continue to show it“, says a woman from the Ukrainian army, a platoon commander, who requested anonymity. “The volunteers gave the state a long deadline to solve the problems related to mobilization. The state, unfortunately, did not solve them and continues to rely on those who serve and are already very tired of the service.“
The Ukrainian military, who agreed to talk to DW, do not take seriously the promises of the government and the deputies to solve the mobilization issue. "I didn't have high hopes," says Sergeant Major Ondrej Zimenko. In the fourth year of the war, the Ukrainian military is facing the consequences of physical and mental fatigue. Among them are desertion and voluntary departure from units, which have already reached alarming proportions. And these problems can be solved by setting clear terms of service, said Major Roman Gorodetsky of the 68th Brigade. "This is a global issue - determining the term of service in the combat zone and in the armed forces as a whole," he added.
Realistic terms of rest for the military
According to the major, in conditions of shortage of personnel, only partial rotations of personnel can be organized - for example, battalions can be sequentially taken on rest for a period of one to three months. "If we withdraw personnel even once a year, everything will change fundamentally. First, the attitude of the military themselves towards the service will improve. Second, the number of deserters will decrease," Gorodetsky believes.
According to the military who spoke to DW, the time needed for a break after three years in the army should be long - from six months to a year. "It would be good to have annual contracts. I guarantee that in this case most will return to the army and the number of deserters will decrease," believes a woman who is a senior lieutenant in one of the mechanized brigades.
Changes are needed in the approach to mobilization
Battery commander Oleksandr Pavlov believes that the military-political leadership of Ukraine should change the approach to mobilization - by stimulating people - for example, with money. He gives the example of the pilot project "Contract 18-24", intended for volunteers aged 18 to 24. They received one million hryvnias (about 21,000 euros) for signing a one-year contract, and after its end - a deferment from mobilization for a year with the right to travel abroad and a mortgage with zero interest. Major Gorodetsky of the 68th brigade suggests that this project be applied to 30-year-olds as well.
However, the responsibility for the mobilization also lies with the citizens themselves, the military told DW. “They tell me that there is no one to replace me in the army. But there are many people who have not fought yet. I am ready to continue fighting for Ukraine. But I see that many others, younger and stronger than me, for some reason avoid this“, points out Lesya Ganja.
Currently, the Ukrainian army consists of about one million people, recalls the woman, who is a senior lieutenant in one of the mechanized brigades. “In a country with a population of about 20 million, excluding residents of the occupied regions and refugees abroad, is it so difficult to find one million people to replace those who have already been mobilized?“, asks the woman.