The Ukrainian authorities announced on Wednesday the detention of a soldier who had publicly announced that he was leaving his unit without permission to call for the demobilization of soldiers exhausted by almost three years of Russian invasion.
The Ukrainian Investigative Bureau (DBR) announced on Telegram that it had detained Serguiï Gnezdilov, a soldier from the 56th brigade of the Ukrainian army who confirmed this information on Facebook without further comment. The man is under investigation for desertion and risks up to 12 years in prison, the DBR said.
“The demonstrative and public abandonment of a military unit in time of war is not only immoral” in relation to its comrades but also “demoralizes society and provokes a false debate which clearly plays into the hands of our enemy,” accused the DBR.
The indefinite duration of service in times of martial law is debated in Ukraine, a country facing since February 2022 the worst armed conflict in Europe since the Second World War, which has already left tens of thousands dead.
If some consider this situation unfair towards the soldiers who have been under the flags since the start of the invasion and call for their demobilization and their replacement by other recruits, the government is reluctant due to the lack of new reserves and the very difficult situation on the front.
Serguiï Gnezdilov announced on Facebook on September 21 that he was leaving his unit to draw attention to this problem, sparking a lively controversy in the media and on social networks.
“The question of rest for the infantry and the establishment of clear conditions of service on the front line is a question of national security,” he declared then, comparing the current situation to “serfdom”.
“They try to convince us that there are no people to replace the infantryman who carries this war on his shoulders. Five million men likely to do their service are telling the soldiers who are on the front line that this war is not theirs,” he protested.
If the first months of the invasion had been marked by patriotic enthusiasm, Ukraine now lacks volunteers to replenish the ranks of its army.
In May, the country adopted a new law to strengthen mobilization and enlist tens of thousands of men, but the problem is far from being resolved, with the recruitment system considered corrupt and ineffective.
