A Ukrainian refugee picks food items from the Berliner TOEFL food bank in Berlin
Afrasianet - Since the weekly newspaper Die Zeit revealed that Ukrainian soldiers had fled military training in Germany, German media has been discussing the growing difficulties Ukraine is facing in recruiting new fighters.
Two days ago, the newspaper highlighted the story of soldier Volodymyr Shulgen, who fled military training and refused to return to the front, and the newspaper explained that more than 29,000 Ukrainian soldiers have received training in Germany since 2022, while about 80 desertions have been recorded in the state of Saxony-Anhalt alone, and several hundred in Germany in general.
According to the newspaper, those fleeing are having difficulty staying in Germany, because the protection rules for Ukrainian refugees do not apply to them as they have entered the country on an official training mission, so they have no choice but to apply for asylum and prove that they are in danger or persecution when returning to Ukraine.
This reflects the growing difficulties Ukraine is facing in providing soldiers ready to fight on the frontlines as the Russia-Ukraine war , which has been raging since February 2022, continues.
The 39-year-old soldier was sent by the Ukrainian military earlier this year to Germany to train for combat in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt, where he was due to receive the necessary training before returning to the battlefield.
The training camp from which the soldier fled is one of about 60 sites in Germany where Ukrainian soldiers are trained by German trainers and others from 12 European countries before returning to the front.
According to the newspaper, she spoke with 10 other Ukrainian recruits who fled two military posts in Germany this year, which now leaves them facing a prison sentence of up to 12 years under Ukrainian law for fleeing military service.
All the stories it learned during the investigation all show the difficulties the Ukrainian military is having in finding fighters ready to fight.
Volodymyr is quoted as saying that he wanted to save his life from death, adding that he considers fighting against Russia to be right, but he does not feel guilty because he now lives in Germany instead of fighting with others who are giving their lives for Ukraine, and continues that everyone should have the right to decide for themselves whether they want to participate in this war or not, noting that he does not want to because his children need him more than the army.
A pianist, not a soldier
Looking back, Volodymyr says that in peacetime he was a pianist, wrote poetry and organized Bible discussions, stressing that he was never a fighter, neither physically nor personally, and that he had never been in a fight once in his life.!".
Volodymyr and his wife, who also joined him in Germany, lived in Ukraine in constant fear of being drafted one day, and say that in recent months the military has intensified the search for young men in order to send them to the front, saying that the army has been stopping men in the streets and dragging them into cars before taking them to the front.
Volodymyr recounts his recruitment story by saying that he had to quit his job because he avoided going out on the streets, but at the end of January, he was stopped by men in uniform on a street in Dnipro city with his wife only to find out that he was not exempt from military service, after which he was sent to Germany to undergo a military course.
No one joins voluntarily
According to the newspaper, it is not necessary for all Ukrainian men to serve in the army, as there are about 1.3 million men who do not meet the requirements of military service because they work in vital sectors, such as banking, administrative work, the media or the information technology sector.
The laws also exempt parents with 3 or more children as well as students, graduate students, and men under the age of 25, and well-known athletes, artists, and actors can get an exemption from the military.
In the first two years of the European training program, Ukraine was mostly sending experienced and highly motivated soldiers to Germany, learning how to operate the Gibbard anti-aircraft tank, the Panzerhaubze 2000 howitzer, or the Iris T air defense system, but last year Ukraine also began sending novices like Volodymyr to basic training.
According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, about two million Ukrainians are hiding from view to escape military service and recruitment offices do not know where they live and where they work.
Since February 2022, at least 60,000 Ukrainian soldiers have fled the army at a time when more than 250,000 military personnel are on trial on suspicion of leaving their combat units without permission.
German authorities do not provide an exact number of Ukrainian soldiers who have fled the military exercises, but the German Ministry of Defense only confirms that Ukrainian soldiers left on their own and in isolated cases, noting that the state of Saxony Anhalt alone has recorded 80 cases, and across all of Germany, the number is said to be several hundred.
Unknown fate
Other Ukrainians who fled military training justified the difficult decision by saying that one of them had been attacked by his officials, while one of the escapees said he had served a 15-year prison sentence in Ukraine for murder, while another said : "I simply don't want to die and I don't want to be killed, neither on the front nor anywhere else, isn't that enough?".
Regarding their future in Germany, Die Zeit says that the laws are unlikely to allow Volodymyr and other fugitives to stay in Germany, as refugees from Ukraine have very simplified rules for staying, specifically Article 24 of the German Residence Act, where people displaced by the Russian war are allowed to stay, and these provisions do not apply to Ukrainian conscripts who have fled service on German soil.
From the point of view of the German authorities, they did not flee Ukraine, but were sent by their government to Germany for military training, and a spokesman for the Federal Interior Ministry was quoted as saying that Ukrainian soldiers in Germany on a training mission "may not, in principle, apply for a residence permit in accordance with article 24 of the Residence Act."
Volodymyr Shulgin concludes his interview with the newspaper by saying that there is nothing that motivates him to return to his homeland, adding, "I wish Ukraine victory from the bottom of my heart, but for me it was the right decision to flee."
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Source: German Press + Die Zeit
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