Dozens of Ukrainian soldiers sent to Germany for military training have reportedly deserted rather than return to their units, according to an investigation by German weekly Die Zeit. The accounts provide another window into Ukraine's growing manpower difficulties as the war enters its fifth year
INR Report: Based on reporting by RT, citing an investigation by German weekly Die Zeit, published 21 August 2026. Read the original RT report HERE
Dozens Reportedly Desert in Germany
Dozens of Ukrainian soldiers have deserted while undergoing military training in Germany, according to RT's account of an investigation by German weekly Die Zeit.
Die Zeit interviewed ten men who had fled their units and reported that around 80 cases have been recorded in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt alone. The nationwide number is believed to run into the hundreds.
The German publication's own reporting says the profile of the Ukrainian personnel arriving for training has changed as the war has continued.
Earlier in the conflict, soldiers arriving in Germany tended to be experienced and highly motivated. Increasingly, newly mobilised recruits are being sent for training as Ukraine struggles to replenish its forces.
Independent reporting by Euronews has also cited the approximately 80 cases in Saxony-Anhalt and says no official nationwide German figure has yet been published.
From Pianist to Conscript
Die Zeit examined the experience of Vladimir Shulgin, a 39-year-old former pianist from Dnepr, who said he had tried to avoid mobilisation as Ukraine intensified its recruitment campaign.
According to his account, he restricted his movements outside his home while his wife helped support the family.
That ended in late January.
Shulgin said recruitment officers detained him after he ventured outside. He was subsequently mobilised and sent to Germany's Altengrabow military training facility.
He told Die Zeit that he did not initially intend to desert.
According to his account, that changed after he became ill and was physically abused by a Ukrainian superior. He also alleged that Ukrainian officers later threatened him after he reported the incident to a German military doctor.
When the doctor referred Shulgin to a hospital in Berlin, he eventually decided not to return to the training facility.
He has since applied for asylum and is reportedly living in a refugee shelter.
“I Don't Want to Die”
Another deserter interviewed by Die Zeit described his reason for leaving much more simply.
“I simply don't want to die, and I don't want to kill. Not at the front, and nowhere else. Is that enough?”
Die Zeit's reporting indicates that the motivations of the deserters it interviewed varied considerably.
Some wanted to reunite with families already living in the European Union. Others described problems with military superiors or said they simply did not want to fight.
The German newspaper also raises questions about the social distribution of mobilisation inside Ukraine, reporting that exemptions exist for various occupations and circumstances while many of those actually mobilised come from less privileged backgrounds.
Ukraine's Manpower Problem
The desertions need to be viewed against the larger challenge facing Ukraine's armed forces.
Kiev has increasingly relied on mobilisation to replace battlefield losses as the conflict with Russia has continued.
Videos have repeatedly circulated showing confrontations between Ukrainian recruitment officers and men in public places. Some show men being physically detained and placed into vehicles, a practice critics have dubbed “busification.”
The Ukrainian authorities have acknowledged tens of thousands of desertion and unauthorised-absence cases since the conflict dramatically escalated in February 2022.
Germany, meanwhile, has become an important training centre for Ukrainian forces.
Separate reporting says approximately 29,000 Ukrainian military personnel have undergone training in Germany since the programme began.
Desertion Has Happened Elsewhere
Germany is not the first European country where Ukrainian personnel have reportedly deserted while undergoing overseas training.
In late 2024, Ukrainian media reported that around 50 soldiers from Ukraine's 155th Mechanized Brigade deserted while being trained in France.
That episode became part of a wider controversy surrounding the brigade after reports emerged of significant numbers of personnel going absent without leave.
The German cases therefore raise a broader question about whether the problem lies with individual soldiers or reflects a deeper decline in willingness among some newly mobilised Ukrainians to fight.
What Happens to the Deserters?
Leaving the training camp does not necessarily mean the men can simply remain in Germany.
Die Zeit reports that their prospects of receiving asylum are likely to be limited.
German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said last month that Ukrainian men of military age can apply for asylum, but avoiding military service does not in itself provide grounds for protection.
That leaves deserters such as Shulgin in a difficult legal position.
They may refuse to return to Ukraine because they fear being sent to the front, while simultaneously having no automatic right to remain in Germany.
A Different Picture of Ukraine's War Effort
The importance of the Die Zeit investigation lies partly in where it was published.
These accounts are not emerging solely from Russian media.
They are being reported by one of Germany's major publications, based on interviews with Ukrainian soldiers who themselves deserted while training in Germany.
That does not establish how widespread desertion is throughout Ukraine's armed forces, and the absence of an official nationwide German figure means estimates of hundreds of cases should be treated cautiously.
But the approximately 80 cases reported by authorities in Saxony-Anhalt provide evidence that the phenomenon is more than an isolated incident.
The question is what it says about Ukraine's ability to continue replacing soldiers after more than four years of large-scale war.
Does This Affect New Zealand?
Indirectly, but it is relevant to understanding the conflict New Zealand continues to support politically and materially.
New Zealand has provided military assistance to Ukraine and contributed personnel to international efforts training Ukrainian forces.
The Die Zeit investigation therefore adds another dimension to assessing the sustainability of Ukraine's war effort.
Weapons, ammunition and financial support are only part of military capability.
Armies also require people willing and able to fight.
If increasing numbers of newly mobilised Ukrainians are unwilling to return to the battlefield after receiving training in NATO countries, the underlying manpower problem becomes strategically significant regardless of how much additional military equipment Western governments provide.
Current Relevance
The immediate issue is the scale of desertion among Ukrainian personnel undergoing training overseas.
Around 80 cases have reportedly been recorded in Saxony-Anhalt, while the German-wide total is believed to be higher.
However, Germany has not published a confirmed nationwide total.
That distinction matters.
Long-Term Relevance
Ukraine's ability to maintain sufficient personnel may become one of the defining factors in the continuation of the war.
Military aid can replace destroyed equipment.
Training programmes can improve capability.
But neither automatically solves a shortage of soldiers willing to serve.
If the profile of Ukrainian troops arriving for Western training has shifted from experienced volunteers towards unwilling or forcibly mobilised recruits, as Die Zeit reports, that change deserves continued scrutiny.
Historic Relevance
The Ukrainian war has increasingly become a war of endurance.
Russia and Ukraine have both suffered substantial losses, while Kiev has progressively tightened mobilisation as it attempts to maintain force levels.
Reports of Ukrainian soldiers deserting during training in Germany therefore provide another measurable indicator of the pressures developing inside Ukraine's mobilisation system.
The numbers should continue to be tracked.
Not simply because soldiers are leaving.
But because of what they may tell us about the willingness of Ukraine's remaining military-age population to continue fighting.
Source
RT — 21 August 2026
Original RT report HERE
Original Die Zeit investigation HERE
Source image: FILE PHOTO of Ukrainian service members at a military training center in Munster, Germany. © Morris MacMatzen/Getty Images.
Independent reporting. Original context. Credited sources.