Ukraine’s new Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov revealed that two million citizens are wanted for avoiding military service and another 200,000 soldiers absent without official leave (AWOL).
Reports say that exhaustion from nearly four years of full-scale war has driven some troops to go AWOL or desert. These are criminal offenses punishable by five to 12 years in prison, while deliberately evading mobilization carries a sentence of three to five years imprisonment during wartime.
The Kyiv Independent said many soldiers used AWOL as an illegal shortcut to transfer between units and avoid the lengthy bureaucracy, though authorities have recently cracked down on this practice.
Fedorov stressed that there are problems in Ukraine’s armed forces that need to be addressed immediately, including the army’s paper-heavy bureaucracy, which affects many soldiers and commanders, its Soviet-style top-down command structure, and the supply of essential resources, including weapons.
“This prevents soldiers on the front line from working at their maximum,” Fedorov said.
Fedorov further emphasized that manpower shortages make technological advances even more important. “More robots means fewer losses, more technology means fewer deaths. The lives of Ukrainian heroes are of the highest value,” he said.
He said there are now 500 Ukrainian companies producing drones, 200 making jamming equipment, and over 20 building missiles.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that strengthening the army’s technological capabilities will be one of Fedorov’s top priorities in his new role.
