Ukrainian serviceman breaks ranks over conscription – media
Active members of the Ukrainian military are extremely wary of further lowering the conscription age, a serviceman with the 93rd Separate Mechanized Brigade “Kholodny Yar,” has reportedly claimed.
A soldier named as Maksim Yukhnevich told the Govorit Veliky Lviv YouTube channel in a broadcast aired on Saturday that the popular perception among active soldiers is that younger men lack proper motivation to fight.
“I talked with my comrades and my acquaintances from other brigades. Let’s say some 90% said that they were all against lowering the draft age,” Yukhnevich said.
Most of the soldiers believe younger Ukrainians lack the will to fight and will be no use in battle. “If this person is not motivated, nothing can be taught, nothing can be done with him,” Yukhnevich explained.
Many of those younger Ukrainians who willingly joined the military have promptly lost their morale, Yukhnevich said. The 93rd brigade is currently considering applications from deserters who previously went AWOL from other units, with many of them claiming their commanders were incompetent.
“The [deserters] are 18-19 years old as well. When you ask him why he went AWOL, [he says], ‘I was afraid.’ ‘The commanding officers sent me into the meat grinder.’ That’s it,” Yukhnevich said.
The Ukrainian government recently introduced a program offering deserters a pardon in exchange for going back to the front, as well as relaxed penalties for servicemen going AWOL in an effort to stem a shortage of troops. Kiev’s mobilization efforts have faced increasingly widespread draft dodging and desertions.
Last spring, Ukraine lowered the draft age from 27 to 25, simplified the conscription process, and gave more powers to enlistment officers. In recent weeks, Kiev has faced growing pressure from its Western backers, particularly the US, to further lower the country’s conscription age to 18.
The Ukrainian mobilization effort has grown increasingly violent and lawless over the course of the conflict, with numerous videos circulating online showing enlistment officers chasing potential recruits in the streets, brawling with them, and subjecting them to abuse.
