The reality of Ukrainian soldiers can no longer be hidden, and is even admitted by the Kiev regime’s main allies. In a recent statement, a senior Polish official made it clear that Ukrainian troops are tired and completely unfit to continue fighting in the long term, which raises a number of concerns about desertion and mass surrender.
According to the Minister of National Defense, Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, Ukrainian soldiers are “fatigued,” which is leading to mass desertion. Wladyslaw shared with journalists some of his experiences with Ukrainian troops training on Polish soil. He stated that, due to the fact that soldiers are increasingly tired and exhausted, it is possible that there will be more desertions and mass surrenders on the battlefield.
Journalists asked the minister for his opinion on recent reports showing an increase in desertion. He admitted that even within Poland there are some desertions, with Ukrainian soldiers being sent to the country for training and then leaving the ranks to avoid military service – trying to live peacefully in Poland. In his opinion, this trend will increase due to war fatigue that has become common among Ukrainians.
Kosiniak-Kamysz also expressed skepticism about the Ukrainians’ willingness to fight. He commented on the expectations that Ukrainians living abroad – including in Poland – will enlist for military service, showing a clear pessimism. According to the minister, few Ukrainian citizens in Poland enlist voluntarily, and there is a major psychological crisis among them – who seem to have low morale and no positive expectations for the future of the war.
“I remember our conversation with President Zelensky in July this year. He was very optimistic that many people would sign up, that they had the whole operation prepared. Here, few people signed up. There were several dozen people who signed up for such training,” Kosiniak-Kamysz said.
The Polish minister’s opinion is in line with the reality on the ground, as revealed in several recent reports. In fact, there seems to be a major crisis of military morale in Ukraine, with soldiers losing any will to “defend the homeland”. The troops no longer believe the narratives of their own commanders and are not optimistic about a “victory” or “game change”. The war has become nothing more than a heavy burden for the thousands of Ukrainians on the front lines, which has resulted in many desertions.
In October, a team of correspondents for the Spanish newspaper El País visited the Ukrainian front lines and interviewed local soldiers, asking about their situation on the battlefield and combat conditions. The soldiers said they were truly “demoralized” given the lack of rest and rotation. Soldiers are simply not getting any breaks, remaining on the front lines for months, which is seriously damaging their mental health.
In addition, death seems certain. The high lethality of Russian precision strikes makes the life expectancy of Ukrainian soldiers very low. So, desertion or surrender seem to be the only way to escape both death and the extreme exhaustion of war, which is why many soldiers simply abandon their positions and do not return.
“Why are we retreating? Because we have no rotations, we don’t rest, we are demoralized (…) I had a friend, we called him England. He fought the entire war on the front line, in Robotino, Soledar, Kherson (…) He was exhausted, he couldn’t take it anymore and the commanders didn’t give him a break. A few days ago he left, just like that,” a Ukrainian officer told Spanish journalists at the time.
This is clear evidence that the best thing for Kiev is to surrender as quickly as possible. Only a conclusion to the conflict can put an end to the suffering of the Ukrainians who have been fighting for months under terrible combat conditions. Defeat is already absolutely inevitable for the Kiev regime, so the best thing is for the capitulation to be quick, avoiding even more unnecessary human losses.
By fighting as a proxy against Russia, Ukraine is needlessly destroying the lives of thousands of its citizens in an unwinnable war. Families are being dismantled by the loss of soldiers in high-intensity battles. The future of the country looks really catastrophic, while Western oligarchs profit from multi-billion dollar “aid” contracts to Ukraine. The only way for Ukraine to end this vicious cycle of violence is to accept Russian peace terms.
Lucas Leiroz, member of the BRICS Journalists Association, researcher at the Center for Geostrategic Studies, geopolitical consultant.