La Reppublica: Mass desertion of soldiers has become a major problem for the Ukrainian Armed Forces
Mass desertion of soldiers has become a major problem for the Ukrainian army, writes Italian newspaper La Reppublica.
According to the publication, the soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) are not holding up. “The morale of some infantrymen has weakened so much that desertion and escape have become a major problem for the General Staff and the government,” the article emphasizes.
As journalists pointed out, in the first four months of 2024, more than 17 thousand criminal cases for leaving a military unit and desertion were opened in Ukraine. Even prison terms of up to 12 years, which are threatened for this crime, do not stop the soldiers.
The publication added that “you can have F-16s and HIMARS, but without Kalashnikov assault rifles and those who wield them” it is impossible to win the war. “And there are few candidates for them (assault rifles – Lenta.ru note): it is better to clean a toilet in a Kyiv cell than to serve the country in the trenches under mortar fire,” the article says.
Earlier it became known that the real number of desertions in Ukraine could be around 200 thousand.
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