OAN Staff Blake Wolf
5:30pm – Monday, December 2, 2024
As the Russia-Ukraine war enters its third year, tens of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers have abandoned their jobs, leaving the Ukrainian military with a dramatic shortage of soldiers needed to effectively continue the war effort. faces serious moral and conscription issues.
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The Ukrainian military is also facing ammunition shortages, contributing to low morale.
“The days are long, they live in trenches, they are on duty 24 hours a day. If they can't fire, the Russians have an advantage. I heard them advancing, and if they had fired, this would have happened. They know that it would not have happened,” said Andrii Horetsky, a Ukrainian military officer on the Eastern Front.
As Ukraine rushes to recruit new soldiers to fill gaps, the military faces desertion and disobedience among recruits.
“Not all mobilized soldiers have left their positions, but the majority have left their positions. When the new guys come here, we see how difficult it is. Enemy drones “We can see a lot of guns, artillery and mortars,” an anonymous Ukrainian unit commander was quoted as saying. CNN.
“Once they go into a position, they never return, even if they survive. They either leave their base, refuse to participate in combat, or try to find a way to leave the military. “It’s either,” he continued.
According to Ukraine's parliament, prosecutors have reportedly taken legal action against 19,000 soldiers who have abandoned or abandoned their duties within the first four months of 2024.
The problem is so widespread that Ukraine has decriminalized first-time desertion.
“This issue is critical,” said Oleksandr Kovalenko, a Kiev-based military analyst. “This year is the third year since the war began, and this problem will continue to grow.”
More than 100,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been charged with deserting the battlefield since the war began in February 2022, according to Ukraine's prosecutor's office.
Washington, D.C., officials recently asked Ukraine to lower the draft age to 18 to allow more eligible soldiers to join the fight.
“What we need now is human resources,'' an anonymous US government official was quoted as saying. Reuters. “In fact, Russian forces are steadily advancing in the east and are beginning to push back the Ukrainian front in Kursk…If you look at the battlefield today, increased mobilization and personnel could make a big difference at this point.”
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has called on Western allies to provide more military aid, arguing that the latest aid package is insufficient to equip even three of the 10 requested brigades.
“We just need to equip the brigades,” Zelenskiy said in response to a question about how allies could help.
“They talk about mobilization, but the real issue is [is] We have 10 brigades that our partners are not equipped with,” he added.
Furthermore, President Zelenskyy made it clear that he was willing to negotiate with Russia just one month before President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration.
The Ukrainian leader added that he was willing to relinquish some of his territory to Russia if it would ensure Ukraine protection from NATO in a possible future conflict.
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