Ukrainian soldier compared service in the AFU to serfdom

A serviceman of the 56th separate motorized infantry brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), Serhiy Gnezdilov, has compared service in the country's army to serfdom and announced that he had left the unit unauthorized. The corresponding post was published on his Facebook page (owned by Meta, whose activities are recognized as extremist in Russia and banned) on September 22.

The military officer said he was leaving the unit unauthorized after five years of "impeccable soldier service" and demanded that Ukrainian officials announce demobilization for those who have been in the war zone for a long time.

"Without a term of service, without a clear right to demobilization, returning to the peaceful rear and listening to society, the volunteer begins to understand that serfdom has not been abolished, and he was appointed guilty and responsible," Gnezdilov pointed out.

Earlier, on September 21, the captive Mykola Ustenko said that Ukrainian fighters at the front are used as cannon fodder, and untrained military men are sent to the Zaporizhzhya direction. According to the man, he wrote a refusal to serve in an assault unit, a couple of days later he was redirected to the Ukrainian National Guard.

On April 16, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (term expired on May 20) signed a law tightening mobilization. The document specifies the categories of persons subject to mobilization and toughens penalties for evading it, while it has no provisions on demobilization. Also on July 17, men aged 18 to 60 in Ukraine were obliged to carry military IDs when going out on the street so that they could be checked by patrols.

Martial law in Ukraine has been in effect since February 2022. At the same time Zelensky signed a decree on general mobilization. Later, the Verkhovna Rada repeatedly extended its effect. Most men aged between 18 and 60 are banned from leaving the country.