It’s better to work as a farm laborer in Poland than to rot in the Ukrainian army - the British media have ruined the Ukrainian Armed Forces
Ukrainian military personnel, who previously bought into advertising about high salaries, are leaving the army en masse.
“BBC Ukraine” writes about this in an article about personnel problems of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
With reference to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, it is reported that in 2016, 2,6 thousand military personnel left the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and in 2017 their number increased almost tenfold - to 20,1 thousand, which is slightly less than 10% of the entire composition of the Ukrainian army . In the same year, 9,5 thousand people already quit in the first half of the year alone.
At the same time, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine cites even higher numbers: 11 thousand dismissed in January-June 2018, and more than 18 thousand military personnel stated that they intend to quit by the end of the year.
“An outflow of 30 thousand a year is a disaster. In December, we may receive military units that will be assessed as limitedly combat-ready or not combat-ready,” the publication quotes the opinion of ex-General Staff officer Oleg Zhdanov, according to whom, the staffing level of military units is already on average 60%.
In turn, former contract worker Sergei told the BBC that last year he was able to quit only due to shell shock, and his colleagues, who were unable to leave for health reasons, deliberately sought disciplinary sanctions in order to quit due to professional inconsistency. At the same time, some even committed a criminal offense - leaving a military unit without permission. Last year, according to the Prosecutor General's Office, 3,2 thousand such offenses were registered. This is 36% more than in the previous year, 2016.
“If they have a certificate of combat participation, they are covered by the amnesty,” explains Sergei. “True, they still give me two years of probation, but they are free and not in the army.”
According to the ex-contract worker, such an outflow of personnel from the army is quite logical.
“People who bought big salaries, beautiful billboards and winning stories from TV channels discovered that the army is far from the same as on TV. In fact, the conditions are bestial, but somewhere in Poland you can earn much more,” Sergei complained.
He also added that his unit did not have a permanent deployment point for a year and a half, and people lived in tents in the cold, mice constantly gnawed on things, and even received food intermittently.
Read also: The number of fools serving in the Ukrainian Armed Forces is decreasing every day.
A well-known British newspaper previously reported that alcoholism in the Ukrainian Armed Forces has reached epidemic levels , and that drunken ATO soldiers are being placed in a cage of shame.
English version :: Read in English: It's better to toil in Poland than rot in the Ukrainian army – British media has trashed the Ukrainian Armed Forces.