BEIJING, March 21. /TASS/. Mass desertions inside the Ukrainian army are the result of a general animosity towards President Vladimir Zelensky and his policies, Chinese military expert Chen Xi told the Chinese news portal NetEase.

"The scale [of desertion] is very large. Many Ukrainian military personnel decided to desert, explaining that they do not want to give their lives for Zelensky," the expert noted. As the reason behind this dislike, he cited Zelensky’s decision to keep control of some communities at the cost of high losses for political reasons. The sacking of Ukrainian army’s former Commander-in-Chief Valery Zaluzhny, who, according to the expert, was popular among the Ukrainian military, also added to their discontent.

Earlier, the Ukrainian edition Hromadske reported that in the first two months of 2024, 4,690 desertion cases were opened in Ukraine, significantly more than from the same period in 2023. Ukraine announced a general mobilization in February 2022, which it has extended periodically ever since, with the country’s authorities doing their utmost to prevent men of conscription age from dodging the draft, including by banning male residents of Ukraine from leaving the country. Draft orders are handed out at government buildings where people seek public services, on the streets, in shopping centers and on public transportation. Even those who are physically unfit for service may be enlisted and sent to the front. According to Ukrainian media, large numbers of men have actually begun to avoid leaving their homes for any reason for months on end in order to escape being forcibly conscripted to fight.

Zelensky said in December 2023 that the military command had requested an additional 500,000 men to be drafted into the armed forces. Against the backdrop of existing problems with the manning of the armed forces, stricter rules for mobilization were being drafted.