Ukraine faces military desertions as Russian invasion grinds through 5th year

Amna Nawaz:

Ukraine's military says it's facing a growing problem of desertion. Experts estimate approximately 150,000 service members may be missing from their units as the war grinds through its fifth year.

Soldiers cite extreme fatigue caused by long deployments without rotation, anger at orders seen as suicide missions and forced mobilization.

Special correspondent Jack Hewson reports on one young soldier who says these pressures pushed him beyond his breaking point.

We have changed the names and voices of some of the subjects in this report to protect their identities.

Jack Hewson:

Across Ukraine's towns and villages, tens of thousands of former soldiers hide from a duty they can no longer face. For many, like Andriy, it wasn't always this way. He signed up to fight willingly in 2023.

"Andriy," Ukrainian Army (through interpreter):

I couldn't just sit there healthy and young and not go defend my country. I thought there was something to fight for.

Jack Hewson:

When Andriy arrived at the front in Bakhmut in Eastern Ukraine, he was just 18 years old, but his youthful enthusiasm to defend his country quickly turned. At first, he was sheltered from frontline missions, according to his comrade Sasha.

"Sasha," Ukrainian Army (through interpreter):

He was the youngest among us, to be honest. He was like a child. He didn't understand where he had come from. He was a little confused.

Jack Hewson:

As he became an accomplished fighter, Andriy's youthful enthusiasm and patriotic zeal would be tainted by his perception of the battalion's leadership.

"Andriy" (through interpreter):

I thought people would be valued. I thought there would be some kind of support there. Well, I got there, and I realized that the commanders were sending people to their deaths. It was crazy.

Jack Hewson:

It was this allegedly flippant attitude towards life and the pressures of the command that he believes led to the suicide of a friend, Denis Boyko (ph), at a frontline position in early 2024.

"Andriy" (through interpreter):

I went into the kitchen and saw the soldier lying there, his head gone. I just saw that and froze. I just stared at him and that was it. I couldn't even understand anything. I just stared at him, his head gone. It was just crazy.

Jack Hewson:

Boyko recorded his suicide on the eve of a dangerous assault mission he didn't want to complete. He filmed the suicide note on his phone before shooting himself in the head with his assault rifle on camera.

"Andriy" (through interpreter):

The man couldn't take the pressure because the commander put a lot of pressure on him. The man shot himself, and he was only 20 years old.

Jack Hewson:

Chief Sergeant Volodymyr Tkach was also present at the time. He agreed with Andriy that Boyko had been pressured, but he said other factors were also in play.

Volodymyr Tkach, Chief Sergeant (through interpreter):

He had a fight over his girlfriend, a little alcohol, a little unprofessional work by a psychologist with him the day before, and plus the pressure from the command. And this young man simply couldn't cope.

Jack Hewson:

Deeply traumatized by the incident, Andriy's mental health would deteriorate over 2024, as he was sent on ever more dangerous missions, often stranded on the hard front without adequate ammunition or even food and water.

"Andriy" (through interpreter):

They fried snakes there and ate them. I drank water from puddles through a straw, I wanted a drink so badly.

Jack Hewson:

What would soon prompt Andriy's desertion were a series of catastrophic missions in Krasnohorivka in 2024, missions he says convinced him he could no longer trust his commanders.

"Andriy" (through interpreter):

We have a battalion. We just entered Krasnohorivka in 2024. And our battalion was immediately bombed, everything. It was just awful what was happening. Just a few people survived. One soldier next to me is suffocating. The other has no legs.

The commander says:

"Evacuation will be in a couple of days." He says: "Well, that's how it is." He says: "You can't do anything. Just endure it."

I'm in shock. I'm sitting there thinking, what's going on?

Jack Hewson:

Lucky to survive that bombardment, Andriy would eventually be wounded in a drone attack. After only a few days in hospital, he returned to the front, where his commanding officer told him he would be deployed on an assault mission the following day. This was his breaking point.

"Andriy" (through interpreter):

He said: "You're going to storm the building." I say: "No, that's it. I'm done. I say: "I endured 2.5 years, endured, endured, endured, and now I say you're a scumbag. Will you come with me?" He said no. That's it.

Then the sergeant took my machine gun because I wanted to shoot him, our commander. They took my machine gun away from me. The commander just said: "If you are killed, it doesn't matter. I will send new soldiers."

He's not a commander. He's just a monster.

Jack Hewson:

The commander Andriy is referring to is Major Alexi Kuchurenko (ph).

Andriy's comrade Sasha also complained that Kuchurenko's decisions had repeatedly cost lives and almost cost him his own. After returning from one mission, having lost men, he said Major Kuchurenko merely mocked them.

"Sasha" (through interpreter):

He said: "Guys, you fought badly. Not many of you died. Couldn't you fight better? No? Then we will replace you and send you to even deeper places."

Jack Hewson:

Chief Sergeant Tkach also identified Major Kuchurenko as a fact in Andriy's eventual desertion, but said he was symptomatic of a broader failure.

Volodymyr Tkach (through interpreter):

I can name Major Kuchurenko, the battalion commander at the time, but I emphasize this is a systemic problem. I must say that Major Kuchurenko's fault, in my opinion, lies in his incompetence and in supporting this system that doesn't work.

If you talk to Major Kuchurenko, he will say that he is a great guy and the company commander is a fool. Sorry for being French. Well, and so on, the company commander will say that he is a great guy and that it is the sergeant who gave the order, et cetera.

Jack Hewson:

And with the grim brutality of the front, throughout last year, Ukraine saw a sharp rise in soldiers deserting. Thousands have walked off of the front line. Soldiers and some commanders describe exhausted infantry units, collapsing rotations, forced conscription and resentment at leadership failures.

Volodymyr Tkach (through interpreter):

If, in 2022, 2023, we had one or two, maximum three people in the unit who became deserters, then, since 2024, there have been tens of thousands across the country. And this means that this is a systemic problem.

Jack Hewson:

Why is it now that the numbers are escalating so quickly with regards to desertion?

Volodymyr Tkach (through interpreter):

The reason is again very simple, mobilization, how it is carried out.

Jack Hewson:

Tkach is referring to the forced mobilization that has seen thousands of men in some cases literally pulled off of the streets into minibuses, a phenomenon dryly referred to as busification, and then shipped on to the front.

Volodymyr Tkach (through interpreter):

And when human rights are violated, you should not expect that this person will become a super patriotic hero.

Jack Hewson:

Shortly after our interview with Andriy, we discovered that he'd been arrested by military police and, despite his debilitating PTSD, was being forced back to frontline duty. He managed to talk to us briefly over video call at a detention center in Dnipro.

"Andriy" (through interpreter):

There are people like me here. They were deserters and they were also caught. Some were caught by military registration office employees and brought here. I don't know what they're doing here. I am very angry, very angry.

They don't want to send me for treatment. I tell them I have torn ligaments in my body and a traumatic brain injury. My eardrums are ruptured. I have shrapnel inside me. And they say: "You will come to the battalion like this and only then will we decide what to do."

People here treat me badly.

Jack Hewson:

Before we could continue our interview further, Andriy was forced to stop filming by the guards at the detention center. He was taken back to the front line a few days later. Within weeks, we learned he had deserted once again.

Responding to the allegations made in this report in a written statement, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense said that any instances of misconduct were categorically unacceptable and had no place in their ranks. Additionally, they stated that the facts should be reported for legal assessment and, if confirmed, appropriate disciplinary action should be taken.

We made multiple requests for comment from the command of the 21st Special Purposes Battalion and from Major Kuchurenko, but received no response. Despite the injustices described by soldiers in this report, all stressed their pride in their service and in their national cause.

But forcing men to fight against their will is compounding desertion numbers and degrading morale.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Jack Hewson in Ukraine.