One after another they enter the snow-covered trench following the coach’s orders. “You, stay kneeling in this corner,” he shouts. “Aim to your left,” he orders, showing the way to take cover against the wall of this labyrinth built in eastern Ukraine to practice offensive moves. “You, lower your head,” he tells another.
“All this contradicts the belief of many Ukrainians that if they enlist in the army they will be sent directly to the battle front,” says Odessa, 30 years old, who has decided to join the army and is part of this group of recent recruits. “We have been training for more than three months and it does not mean that we will all integrate directly into infantry, as many believe. We do the integration process slowly, and each one will have a specific task,” explains this man, married with two children, who acknowledges that he thought about it a lot before deciding to put on the uniform.
Misinformation on social media, plus news coming from the US predicting that military aid could be reduced now or in the near future, increases many men’s fear of enlisting. Added to this are dozens of videos that capture moments in which recruiters forcibly take away men in the streets or gyms. “Those videos don’t help at all, people get even more scared,” admits Odessa, who believes that there is a great lack of knowledge of the various tasks required in the army. “Everyone thinks they are going straight into the trenches,” she adds.
If we add to this the fear of dying, suffering a lifelong injury or being trapped in the army – many of the men have rested minimally in these two years – the work of the army is even more complicated, which at the beginning of the invasion was overwhelmed by requests and now faces the problem of convincing Ukrainians to enlist.
Two months ago, Volodymyr Zelensky claimed that the military sector was asking for between 400,000 and 500,000 men. The president then wanted more details on how this mobilization was going to be carried out, one of the most sensitive issues in Ukraine, both politically and socially. Some versions suggest that this was one of the points of disagreement with the military leadership that has just been renewed. And the president’s entourage is aware of the political cost of a general mobilization.
“In Ukraine we cannot resort to forced repressive mobilization. People will agree to enlist, but with adequate training,” former Prime Minister Yulia Timochenko, an opposition deputy, said in January.
The first draft of a new mobilization law proposed by the government was returned weeks ago by Parliament. They argued that several points violated the human rights of citizens and could be a breeding ground for greater corruption. The new version, with the corresponding amendments, has already passed the first study, but will have to be debated again in the coming weeks. If approved, the minimum age for mobilization would become 25 and not 27; Those who do not heed the mobilization call after receiving the order will have different penalties, and those who are abroad and do not complete the military registration that allows them to be on the State’s radar will not receive consular aid, among other things. The proposal contemplates that women have the freedom to decide if they want to enlist.
There are different mobilization campaigns that are successful, some by private initiative and others by the different brigades, and the offices to enlist new soldiers are working non-stop, but the reality is that the slowness of the process deepens the discomfort among many soldiers throughout from the battle front, who feel abandoned or betrayed by society.
Andreii is one of them. He joined the army in May 2022 after months of being rejected because of his age: he was 25 years old at the time. He joined a medical team. “For us, here involved in the war, it is very difficult to analyze what is happening adequately. But I try to look at it with a cool head.”
Understand that those who do necessary jobs such as electrical energy engineers or bakers do not enlist. They are needed where they are. “But society has to be respectful. If the military needs help, they must respond. The battle not only happens 20 kilometers from where we are now, the war is being fought throughout the country,” adds this man who says that it bothers him that they want to win the war and live free without getting their hands dirty.
In another of the eastern cities, a group of four soldiers eat a cafeteria. They are part of a drone unit and have spent the freezing night keeping watch. “The reality is that the Russians do not stop putting pressure. We stop them and we will stop them, but the situation is delicate. We need ammunition and also men, many have been wounded and others are exhausted. They need to rest,” says a 60-year-old man who identifies himself as Nick and who fought in the war in Afghanistan.
“I fought with them, I know that they do not care about the lives of their soldiers. They send hundreds of men to die every day, but we are not like that. We have to take care of ourselves and that is why we need support.” He is even more pessimistic in predicting that if Ukraine loses US military support, even more people will be demotivated from fighting. “It’s a possibility, let’s not deny it,” says Nick, for whom many capable men want to win the war without fighting.
“In the end they will be ashamed. We are going to win, we will win,” concludes Dmytro Butenko, deputy commander of the 23rd special battalion deployed in Bakhmut.