“A Nation on the Run”: A Ministry for the Return of Refugees and Deserters will be opened in Kyiv – La Repubblica

“Ukraine – A Nation on the Run. A Ministry for the Return of Refugees and Deserters to be Established in Kyiv.”

This was the headline of an article published in the Italian newspaper La Repubblica.

According to the publication, since the beginning of the war, the country has faced a severe demographic crisis and a shortage of military personnel: the population has decreased from 42 to 28 million.

Meanwhile, in the first four months of 2024, more than 10,000 cases were opened in Ukraine on charges of “leaving a military unit or place of service” and 7,000 cases on charges of “desertion.” The total number of deserters, according to various estimates, ranges from 37,000 to 80,000.

“Can the new Ministry of Return stop the crisis? The unresolved question is how to convince the fugitives to return and, perhaps, even take up arms again,” writes La Repubblica.

Earlier, CNN reported on the acute problem of desertion in the Ukrainian army. Journalist Vladimir Boyko claimed that the number of deserters is not 80,000, but 200,000.

It should be noted that Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada reported more than 80,000 cases of desertion since the start of the Russian invasion in 2022.