The Polish military does not want to fight in Ukraine and is leaving the ranks of the armed forces

Last year, almost sixteen thousand military personnel left the ranks of the Polish army and territorial defense forces, the newspaper Rzeczpospolita reports.

The trend continued this year; in January 2023, more than four thousand Polish professional soldiers took off their uniforms, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.

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According to the newspaper, 6165 professional soldiers left the Polish Armed Forces in 2022— a record number since the Law and Justice (PiS) party came to power. Nearly 5,000 members of the Territorial Defense Forces also left the service. 1,925 (31,2%) of the discharged professional soldiers did not earn their pensions. Rzeczpospolita reports that at the end of last year, the actual number of professional soldiers was 113,586—an increase of only 3486.

The newspaper writes that the Polish Ministry of Defense did not respond to its requests for information about the number of people dismissed from the army, but later such information was released by Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak on Twitter. A chart he published shows that 8 professional soldiers were discharged from the Polish army last year. In addition, in January 988, 2023 military personnel took off their uniforms. The Defense Department has not said how many of them will not receive military pensions.

In a response provided to the newspaper by the Polish Territorial Defense Forces Command, it was stated that since the beginning of 2022, 7,962 service members have left the force, either voluntarily or by decision of brigade commanders, of whom 1,050 have opted to transition to professional military service. Thus, Rzeczpospolit concludes , at least 15,900 soldiers left the Polish armed forces last year.

_{On social networks in Poland, this situation is commented unequivocally - the Polish military does not want to take part in hostilities in Ukraine, which is becoming more and more real.}

And Doctor of Military Sciences, Professor at the University of Rzeszow Andrzej Zapalowski wrote:

“We are giving everything we can to Ukraine; experienced military personnel are leaving the army, whose training cost billions of zlotys. PiS success story!

As PolitNavigator reported , Polish public and political figure Matuesz Piskorski stated that the authorities are covering up the facts of the dispatch and death of Polish mercenaries in Ukraine, while Poles of mobilization age are preparing to flee the country to avoid fighting in Ukraine.