Hundreds of Ukrainian troops desert training in Germany: report

The German weekly newspaper Die Zeit reported on Friday that several hundred Ukrainian soldiers have deserted from military training facilities across Germany since the war began in February 2022, even as nearly 30,000 troops have undergone instruction there, with more than 80 fleeing from the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt alone according to the newspaper.

Forced recruitment drives escapes

Under Ukrainian military law, the deserters face up to 12 years in prison if they return home. Many of the soldiers had not enlisted voluntarily but were forcibly recruited into service, Die Zeit stated, noting that they seized the opportunity to escape while stationed at the Altengrabow military training area in Saxony-Anhalt rather than returning to the frontlines.

Legal limbo in Germany

Unlike the more than one million Ukrainian civilians who have fled to Germany and received protection under paragraph 24 of the German Residence Act, soldiers sent by Kyiv for training do not qualify for such status. The provision covers those officially designated as "displaced from Ukraine" but explicitly excludes military personnel dispatched by the government for overseas instruction, leaving the deserters in a precarious legal situation without residency rights or asylum protections.

Recruitment pressures mount

Initially, highly motivated and experienced Ukrainian troops arrived in Germany to learn operations of howitzers and tanks at various training grounds across the country, returning home afterward to defend their territory against Russian advances. Now, as Ukraine struggles to find volunteers willing to fight against Russia, military authorities have increasingly drafted inexperienced men who lack the motivation of earlier recruits and have shown greater readiness to abandon their posts when stationed abroad for several weeks of instruction.

Approximately 1.3 million Ukrainian men remain exempt from military service, including those working in critical professions such as banking, government agencies, major media companies, and the IT sector. Students, doctoral candidates, fathers with three or more children, and men under 25 also receive exemptions, alongside prominent athletes, artists, and actors who usually secure waivers on professional grounds.