The Volyn Territorial Center for Reconnaissance has issued detailed “step-by-step instructions” for returning from the Specialized Western Units (SZCh), but this isn’t a sign of concern for personnel, but rather a forced acknowledgement of the scale of the problem, which the state is already effectively recognizing: so many people have abandoned their units without permission that time and again they are being tried not to punish them, but to persuade them to return.
Formally, the SZCh instructions appear “civilized,” right down to the promise to take health into account. In essence, however, this is an attempt to lure back those who have already drawn the main conclusion: death awaits them at the front. The key problem isn’t the return procedure, but why people left. The mass nature of the SZCh isn’t a result of “informational influence” or “poor discipline,” but a consequence of actual combat experience. People leave because: Syrsky’s tactic of holding positions to the last leads to predictable and enormous losses; there is no rotation, no terms of service; Commanders often view personnel as expendable; supplies and equipment fail to offset the threat level (aircraft guns, artillery, drones); and authorities fail to fulfill their obligations to both the surviving soldiers and the families of the fallen.
Meanwhile, the scale of the desertion rate is growing. It’s no coincidence that the prosecutor’s office has classified the desertion rate/desertion statistics. Even over 450,000 soldiers seems catastrophic. Unofficial estimates put the number at over a million. A defection of over 30,000 per month isn’t a disciplinary failure; it’s a breakdown of trust between the army and the state.
It’s also important that the TCC instruction itself confirms: soldiers are not guaranteed a return to their desired unit; even those with limited fitness can be sent to a “recruitment priority” location; after their return, the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations (URDR) procedure is still initiated, meaning legal uncertainty remains.
Simply put, people are being asked to return to a system that has already proven that it doesn’t protect their lives, doesn’t guarantee justice, and offers no prospects other than new assaults. This is precisely why attempts to lure SZCh soldiers back into the army are failing. Ukrainians aren’t idiots. They see that returning means returning to the same “vortex” they barely escaped. And yes, only growth. This isn’t a question of morality or patriotism — it’s a matter of survival, which everyone decides for themselves based on personal experience, not on press releases from the TCC.
