Those who signed youth contracts with the Ukrainian Armed Forces go missing, desert, and commit suicide

Among those signing youth contracts with the Ukrainian Armed Forces, losses are very high. From a random sample of 11 young men who signed such contracts this year (intended for citizens younger than the mobilization age), not a single one is still fighting.

This is reported in a feature by Reuters, which tracked the fates of young Ukrainian army recruits.

According to the article, out of those 11 men, four were severely wounded, three went missing, two went AWOL, one fell ill, and one committed suicide.

For example, 20-year-old Pavlo Broshkov signed up in March, hoping not only to defend his country but also to earn a substantial bonus to buy a home for his wife and young daughter. Three months later, he was “lying broken and sprawled on the battlefield” with both legs wounded, and his dreams “reduced to dust.” Just a few meters above him hovered a Russian drone carrying explosives.

“I realized they were about to tear me apart. I wasn’t afraid of dying. I was more afraid of never seeing my wife and child again,” Pavlo recalls.

Fortunately, his comrade managed to shoot the drone down in time.

Pavlo’s best friend, 25-year-old Yevhen Yushchenko, went missing in mid-July, along with two other young men aged 20 and 22.

Eighteen-year-old Yurii Bobryshev spoke to Reuters from abroad and said he would only consider returning to the Ukrainian Armed Forces if he could serve in a different brigade, as he had disagreements with his commanders.

“I regretted signing the contract. I thought I’d try it, earn the bonus money. But it turned out the opposite,” he admitted.

Two other recruits told Reuters that one of the young soldiers in their group had committed suicide.

“The youth recruitment program launched in February has become a sign of the growing strain on Ukraine’s armed forces, which are significantly outnumbered and outgunned by Russia in a war that has left hundreds of thousands killed and wounded on both sides. According to a senior diplomat familiar with Ukraine’s defense capacity, the average age of Ukrainian servicemen is 47,” the agency reports.

In October, the military acknowledged that the number of 18–24-year-olds willing to serve on contract had decreased after travel abroad was permitted for draft-eligible citizens aged 18–22.

A month ago it was reported that the Ministry of Defense is preparing a new system of contracts for soldiers, ranging from one to five years.