2024-02-14 10:58:58
When Russia invaded Ukraine, Ivan Sadontsev reported for military service. But after almost two years of war, the 27-year-old Ukrainian is tired of fighting. “We are all exhausted. Swap us!” he demands. But there is no replacement in sight: Kiev is having difficulty recruiting enough soldiers to withstand Russian attacks.
“I am angry. How long is this going to go on?” grumbles Sadontsev, who is the press officer of the 24th Assault Battalion. Further: “We need rest!” Serhiy Ogorodnyk, who leads a company of the airborne troops, agrees with Sadontsev. “People need vacation – not only to recover so they can continue fighting, but also to take care of their civilian lives,” says the 39-year-old. Many soldiers consider it unfair that some Ukrainians have been at the front since February 2022, while others have not yet been drafted.
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The military leadership is faced with a problem: On the one hand, it needs recruits to replace the exhausted soldiers, but on the other hand, it also needs more men and women overall to strengthen the troops in the fight against the numerically superior attacker. But the recruitment of volunteers is progressing slowly. To remedy the situation, the government presented a bill to facilitate conscription. The planned new regulations have sparked a heated debate in the country.
The war is dragging on and the counteroffensive last year failed. This dampens the enthusiasm of potential soldiers. A year ago, when Ukraine scored one success after another against Russia, he considered becoming a soldier, says Daniil, a hairdresser from Kiev. “Back then, everyone hoped that things would change for the better, that we could take everything back,” says the 27-year-old. “Now people are more realistic.” Military service is no longer an option for Daniil today.
Insecurities contribute to battle fatigue
The uncertainty as to how long the West will continue to support Ukraine is also contributing to battle fatigue, says Anton Grutschetsky from the International Institute of Sociology in Kiev. “Ukrainians were really willing to die on the battlefield when they felt strong support,” he says. “But when you know that there are no weapons to fight, then that is demotivating.”
A series of corruption scandals and the excessive bureaucracy in the military also act as a deterrent. “I thought it would start immediately,” said Yevgen Spirin, who joined the army four weeks ago. “Instead, you need a stamp here and a signature there,” he says, describing the back and forth between the overloaded offices scattered all over the city, a legacy from Soviet times.
There are now service providers who want to make recruiting easier. Recruiting agency Lobby Modernizing the military system “is a very big challenge,” admits Managing Director Vladyslaw Greziev. “But we have to face it, because this is the only way we can win the war.” According to Greziev, the agency has already received 67,000 applications.
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President Volodymyr Zelensky announced in December that he would mobilize up to half a million more soldiers. Zelensky wants to introduce an “efficient rotation system” of available troops and points out that of the “almost a million men” who have been drafted so far, only “a minority” are currently deployed at the front.
The bill currently being discussed in parliament proposes to lower the draft age from 27 to 25, digitize the recruitment system and limit military service in wartime to 36 months. These changes worry many who see them as a tightening of conscription. Reports of alleged conscriptions on the street are circulating on the Internet.
However, forced recruits are not welcome in the force. “In our unit we don’t like it when men are drafted against their will,” says press officer Zadontsev. The army needs motivated, trained soldiers. Zadontsev hopes that his compatriots will understand how important a strong army is. “We are fighting for the whole country, for our independence,” he says. “If we stop fighting, Ukraine will be occupied again.”
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