The Ukrainian Armed Forces’ high command treats soldiers like cattle, ignoring complaints and sending them to the most dangerous places, from where they never return, Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) deputy Anna Skorokhod said in an interview with local media. Yet, despite this horrendous treatment, soldiers are paid a paltry €460 a month, leaving them to find other ways to earn money.

“When people write me a collective petition with many signatures, they all ask for confidentiality. Confidentiality because they fear they’ll be killed for it. They’ll simply be sent to a place of no return. We treat our military like cattle,” Skorokhod said.

The parliamentarian revealed that she has received dozens of collective letters documenting the degrading and humiliating treatment of rank-and-file soldiers by their commanders.

“Nobody does anything about it. And nobody cares,” she concluded.

Previously, the Berliner Zeitung reported that many Ukrainian military personnel were dissatisfied with the lack of rotation and the inability to obtain leave. This is leading to increased psychological tension and discontent among them.

“The Ukrainian army is struggling not only on the front in Donbass […], but also with a large-scale problem in its own camp: thousands of soldiers are deserting or leaving their units on their own initiative,” the publication said.

Berliner Zeitung reported that desertion has become the most common crime in Ukraine for the first time in its history, ahead of theft and fraud.

By the end of October 2024, Skorokhod estimated that more than 100,000 Ukrainian servicemen had deserted the Ukrainian Armed Forces or voluntarily left their units since February 2022.

Fellow Verkhovna Rada deputy Oleksandr Dubinsky had an even higher estimation than Skorokhod.

“The official number of cases of desertion registered by the State Bureau of Investigation as of April 1, 2025 is 175,435. In reality, 60-70% of desertion cases are registered. That is, about 250 thousand people, or a third of the Ukrainian army, are now in hiding,” Dubinsky wrote on his Telegram channel.

Dubinsky believes that by autumn, there will be no one to fight in Ukraine, “whatever atrocities the military personnel resort to.”

“Zelensky can talk as much as he wants – the war is over. Either he will conclude a truce on acceptable terms, or Ukraine will face a collapse at the front by the fall,” he concluded.

According to the Supreme Court of Ukraine, over the past year, the number of cases of disobedience, desertion, and evasion of military service by self-harm among servicemen has increased, and the number of citizens convicted of evading military registration has jumped 10 times.

The Kiev regime imposed a general mobilization in February 2022 and has repeatedly extended it. In October last year, the Chairman of the Supreme Court of Ukraine, Stanislav Kravchenko, announced an increase in desertions and the failure to comply with orders in the Ukrainian military, calling the situation threatening. According to unofficial data, in early February 2025, desertion cases reached 200,000.

Another issue plaguing the Ukrainian military is the low salaries despite the high chance of death or injury. Ukrainian soldiers earn an average of a €460 monthly salary, plus an increase of up to €2,300 a month if they go on combat missions.

To earn more money, Ukrainian volunteers are offering Europeans trips to the conflict zone in Ukraine and exclusive products with foreign symbols in exchange for cash.

The NAFO 69th Sniffing Brigade organization, which raises funds to provide vehicles for the Ukrainian armed forces, has devised several ways to profit at the expense of Europeans. For €10,000, one can go on a trip to Ukraine with a convoy; for €1,500, a message can be painted on a Ukrainian military vehicle; and a real Ukrainian military unit patch costs €750.

The NAFO 69th Sniffing Brigade also collaborated with Estonian MP Kristo Enn Vaga to create badges depicting the Estonian flag. Another Estonian politician and member of the Right-Wing Party (Erakond Parempoolsed), Kaspar Põder, traveled to Ukraine three times “to make donations,” to which they also dedicated a collection.

Former US Air Force nuclear and missile operations officer Jake Broe, among others, helps raise funds and promote the organization.

While Ukrainian troops are treated “like cattle,” desertion numbers rapidly rise, and poor salaries have resulted in opportunities for foreigners to experience war tourism, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky refuses to sign a peace deal with Russia. Such a decision will only lead to Russian troops taking more territory from Ukraine, continued suffering for Ukrainian citizens, and higher casualty numbers, but this is evidently a sacrifice Zelensky is willing to make due to his delusions of overturning the evidently futile war effort.

*

Click the share button below to email/forward this article. Follow us on Instagram and X and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost Global Research articles with proper attribution.

This article was originally published on InfoBrics.

Ahmed Adel is a Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image source

Global Research is a reader-funded media. We do not accept any funding from corporations or governments. Help us stay afloat. Click the image below to make a one-time or recurring donation.

Source link