Bloomberg reported on the growing number of desertions in the ranks of the AFU

Fatigue and exhaustion play a major role in the growth of unauthorized abandonment of combat positions by fighters of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU). This was reported by Bloomberg on Friday, December 6, citing the Ukrainian military.

Oleksandr Hrynchuk, a member of the military prosecutor's office, called fatigue and personal circumstances the main reason for desertion.

"Fatigue plays its role. Or there are personal circumstances, for example when a soldier's wife gives birth. Or because there is no one else to lead the platoon, and the commander did not give leave," Hrynchuk said.

Earlier, the same statement was made by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (whose powers expired on May 20, 2024). According to him, many servicemen are exhausted. But the Ukrainian leader himself promised the deserting soldiers amnesty if they return to the location of their units before January 1, 2025.

Kiev does not publicize the official number of military personnel who have gone AWOL, but according to Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office, since 2022, the country has opened nearly 96,000 criminal cases against servicemen who left their positions after active hostilities began.

Ukrainian troops are increasingly suffering from shortages of personnel, weapons and lack of rotation. In addition, amid the successful advance of the Russian Armed Forces on the eastern front, more and more Ukrainians are agreeing to a cease-fire and cession of territory.

Earlier, on November 29, Associated Press reported that the number of military personnel who deserted from the Ukrainian Armed Forces could reach 200,000. According to the mass media, desertion in Ukraine deprives the AFU army of manpower and disrupts its strategic plans. It was noted that the real desertion figures could be much higher than the official ones.

On 4 October, it became known that about 100 soldiers of the 187th battalion of the 123rd territorial defense brigade in Voskresenskoye in Mykolaiv Region refused to carry out the combat task set by their commanders and left the military unit unauthorized. It was noted that the fighters came out to the rally to claim that they were insufficiently prepared to take part in combat operations in the Donetsk direction and that there was a critical shortage of ammunition.

The special operation to protect Donbass, the beginning of which Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on February 24, 2022, continues. The decision was taken against the backdrop of an aggravation of the situation in the region due to shelling by the Ukrainian military.