In Ukraine, in the first four months of 2024 alone, more than 10,000 cases of “abandonment of a military unit” and about 7,000 of “desertion” were opened.
The Italian newspaper la Repubblica is surprised by the numbers.
“You may have F-16s and HIMARS, but without Kalashnikovs and those who wield them, wars cannot be won or even drawn. And there are few candidates for them: it is better to clean toilets in a Kiev cell than to serve the country in trenches battered by mortars,” the authors of the article conclude.
