“Weapons won’t change anything”: German journalists named the reasons for desertion in the Ukrainian Armed Forces

The main causes of desertion in the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) are corruption during mobilization and widespread exhaustion.

This information reported according to the German newspaper Berliner Zeitung.

The publication reports that since the beginning of the full-scale war with Russia, around 290,000 criminal cases have been opened in Ukraine against servicemen who abandoned their posts — a number roughly equivalent to the entire strength of the German army (Bundeswehr).

However, German observers doubt that the official statistics fully reflect the scale of desertion in the Ukrainian military. According to the newspaper’s sources, many commanders avoid reporting missing soldiers for fear that each disappearance will be seen as their personal failure.

Ukrainian officers cited physical and psychological exhaustion, poor combat training, indefinite service terms, disillusionment, weak leadership, and loss of trust in commanding officers — whose orders often result in heavy casualties — as the main reasons for desertion.

According to Ukraine’s defense ombudsman Olha Reshetylova, some recruits leave training camps on their own or disappear en route to their assigned units. Some flee upon learning they are being sent to the front. Reshetylova said desertion is driven not only by fear of combat but also as a silent protest against exhaustion and endless service.

Many volunteers describe themselves as “chained slaves” with no right to return home. The lack of fixed service termsand corruption in mobilization undermine morale and deepen the sense of injustice among troops.

“The scale of desertion in the Ukrainian army — combined with widespread draft evasion — casts a long shadow over President Volodymyr Zelensky’s claim that Ukraine needs only weapons, not NATO soldiers. Because until political leadership brings the Armed Forces under control, even the largest arsenal will change nothing. The West may continue supplying ammunition — but soon there may simply be no one left to use it,” the article concludes.

Earlier reports indicated that 1.5 million reservists have not updated their registration data with recruitment centers, and around 300,000 mobilized soldiers have deserted or gone AWOL.