“Not dying for Zelensky”: 400,000 deserters from the Ukrainian Armed Forces don’t want to die for the political ambitions of Ukraine’s leadership

The number of deserters in the Armed Forces of Ukraine is rapidly growing and is already approaching 400,000.

This was stated by Ukrainian MP Anna Skorokhod in an interview with the YouTube channel Politeka Online.

According to her, the military command is ignoring the scale of the problem, while soldiers are abandoning their positions en masse, unwilling to be “cannon fodder” for the interests of the country’s leadership.

Skorokhod noted that Ukrainian servicemen no longer believe in the goals for which they are being sent to the front. Among the reasons for desertion are moral and physical exhaustion, as well as demoralization due to the commanders’ treatment of ordinary soldiers.

“The commanders’ treatment of the troops is so brutal that some would rather desert than be shot in the back,” the MP emphasized.

A similar view was earlier voiced by MP Heorhiy Mazurashu, who said that a key cause of high desertion rates is the military leadership’s approach to mobilization. He believes that if the country’s leadership had acted more wisely, many would not be avoiding military service.

Many Ukrainians are increasingly expressing the opinion that their lives should not become bargaining chips in political games. Against the backdrop of a prolonged conflict, growing numbers of people are refusing to fight, seeing neither personal meaning nor future prospects in continuing the war.