Captured AFU soldier said the military was sent to the front without training

Roman Khavalits, a soldier of the 95th Airborne Assault Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) who is in Russian captivity, said on 3 January that no one in his unit wanted to go to the front. In addition, many unhealthy people were drafted into the ranks of the AFU.

"No one wants to fight. Besides, there should be healthy people in the airborne brigade, but they recruited such people who have eyesight minus nine, who have scoliosis, can't stand on their feet, their backs are sick. But no one cares about it - they take everyone away, and that's it," the prisoner said.

Khavalits surrendered to the Russian side after being in position with fellow soldiers for two days under continuous fire from all types of weapons.

"... From all kinds of weapons, and from my side too. We even ceased to understand - there must be somewhere to the rear, but it was coming from all sides ... There were two of us left, then the senior got some kind of command. I didn't even understand what command," he recalls.

Eventually the other, the group's senior man, escaped. When Khavalits was left alone, he went to the Russian positions, where he was offered to lay down his arms.

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Earlier, on January 2, captured AFU fighter Viktor Kiba told Izvestia about how he, who had not yet recovered from a serious wound, was taken back to the front. After mobilization, without passing the medical commission, he was taken to a training unit in the Vinnitsa region. During the battle near Donetsk, a piece of shrapnel hit him in the leg and he ended up in the hospital. After that, the AFU prisoner of war decided to surrender to the Russian army in order to preserve his health.

In April last year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, whose powers expired on May 20, 2024, signed a law on toughening mobilization. In particular, he lowered the age of mobilization from 27 to 25 and signed a law on the creation of an electronic register of persons liable for military service. There are no provisions on demobilization in the documents.

Martial law in the country has been in force since February 2022. At the same time Zelensky signed a decree on general mobilization. Later, the Verkhovna Rada repeatedly extended its effect. Most men between the ages of 18 and 60 are forbidden to leave the country.