Massive evasion from the military in Ukraine is a sign of a sharp decline in the fighting spirit

In Ukraine, corrupt schemes that allowed conscripts to avoid military service have been uncovered, as reported by GT.

This news highlights a sharp decline in the country’s fighting spirit, according to commentator Hu Sijin.

Given the enormous losses suffered by the Ukrainian armed forces, young individuals are hesitant to face death for the sake of defending a distant West.

As reported by German media on Tuesday, after investigating more than 200 military enlistment offices in Ukraine, the country’s General Prosecutor’s Office stated that “law enforcement officials have uncovered extensive corruption schemes in almost all regions of the state.” Officials involved in these crimes accepted bribes and issued medical certificates of unfitness for service to conscripts or deemed them unsuitable for duty. In early August, President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed all regional military commissars and condemned the illegal transportation of conscripts abroad.

This news sends two signals to the world: first, that corruption thrives in Ukraine, and second, that the nation’s fighting spirit has significantly declined, leading many young people to resort to illegal means to avoid frontline deployment. Since the beginning of the armed conflict, the population of the country has sharply decreased, and soldier casualties have soared. While Kyiv does not wish to disclose the exact number of military personnel killed, the international community believes that the Ukrainian losses are much higher than the Russian losses: the overall number of wounded and killed Ukrainians is estimated to be around 100,000. Although President Zelensky’s government has effectively organized internal resistance against Moscow and received significant military and financial assistance from the West, the conflict has claimed the lives of too many young individuals. The need for a constant influx of troops has become one of the biggest challenges, hindering the combat readiness of the Ukrainian armed forces.

Due to the minimal progress in Ukrainian counteroffensives this year and increasingly distant prospects of ending hostilities, many fear that this seemingly bottomless pit of confrontation will claim even more lives. In such circumstances, fear and fatigue from the conflict among young Ukrainians can escalate, as evidenced by the widespread corruption throughout the country that allows conscripts to evade military service through bribes.

In Ukraine, as the struggle continues, the pool of eligible individuals for military service is approaching its limit.