Ghosts in Ukraine’s Military Machine

The military bureaucracy is failing wounded soldiers and others no longer considered active service personnel, but not discharged from the ranks either.

For years Dmytro Ryabko had his own business in Poland. Following the full-scale invasion, he hurried home to Ukraine and joined the army in the far-western town of Uzhgorod where he ultimately joined the 5th Rifle Battalion of the Zakarpattia Territorial Defence Force.

Soon, Ryabko and his comrades were in the frontline defending Borivske near Lysychansk. After 33 days in the trenches ("I didn't wash, not once," he says), and carrying nothing but small arms, his group was forced to retreat by advancing enemy forces. By that point, almost everyone had some health issue. Dmytro himself had a problem with his leg and his liver.

The soldiers were sent to Bakhmut, still quite peaceful then, for medical examinations. And that's where they were forgotten. The 34-strong group stayed in a local hostel. No one answered their calls; they didn't know what to do. They ended up writing directly to the Ministry of Defense and other officials to say they were setting off to their base in Uzhgorod. Later they discovered they has been listed as deserters by their commanding officer.

But while some were considered to have run away, others were in hospital. Eventually, soldiers were taken off the active service list, but at the same time remained military personnel.

Dmytro endured an odyssey of hospital treatment and medical commissions, but like many of his brothers-in-arms remains in the army, and also not in the army; at the same time.

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"I’m ‘off staff’ since July 15, 2022," Dmytro says. That means he's denied a full military salary and is instead paid only $20 a month. Those "on staff" receive more than 100,000 hryvnias ($2,700 and more.)

He is taking formal action in the courts against his unit, but he says he has been marked out as difficult because he "talks too much."

"But honestly. 10 months of being off staff — that's just too much", Dmytro says. He has serious health issues, hardly surprising having served as a frontline infantryman at the age of 52, but is still required to stay close to the battle zone and his unit, which he formally doesn't belong to. His group is meanwhile denied weapons because technically they are no longer soldiers.

"Soldiers discharged during wartime are ghosts in the army, who seem to be absent, but at the same time remain slaves and must continue to serve", says Volodymyr Sheredega. He was discharged even before a medical commission decided his case on whether he is fit for combat. He was placed off staff because it was decided his treatment was taking too long. A veteran with combat experience gained long before 2021, Volodymyr had suffered a very serious knee injury.

He's now also receiving around $20 a month. "You stay in the army and you have to perform some duties there, but without a salary. And it is not clear what your duties are because you do not have a position", he wrote on social media.

And since he is military personnel, Volodymyr can't even get a permission to go abroad to receive treatment and rehabilitation which he would like to do.

Natalya Feshchyk, a lawyer, and Deputy Chairman of the Military Law Committee in the National Association of Ukrainian Lawyers, has dealt with several "off staff" cases. Just last week, she says, she filed another lawsuit: "On October 10, 2022, a soldier was wounded and made off staff the same day. After that, he received four months of medical treatment, but after two months his pay was terminated."

Natalia says that is common. "It's a huge problem. Something needs to be changed. People undergoing treatment need to feed their families and themselves," Feshchyk says.

This is simply wrong and must be tackled. The army's approach needs close attention and should be reformed with new and detailed legislation. It is not only disrespectful to Ukraine's wounded and injured, but the system sometimes prevents healthy and inspired people from protecting their country.

"We also have situations when a person wants to serve, can serve, but remains ‘out,’" Natalya adds. "For example, there are 53 soldiers in the Presidential Regiment who have now been off staff for a year. The commander is having problems getting them back on staff. They don't know how to do that, there's simply no procedure . . ."

Lera Burlakova is a Democracy Fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA.) She is a journalist and former soldier from Ukraine. She served in combat from 2014-2017 after joining the Ukrainian army following the Russian invasion of Crimea. Her war diary "Life P.S." received the UN Women in Arts award in 2021.

Europe's Edge is CEPA's online journal covering critical topics on the foreign policy docket across Europe and North America. All opinions are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the position or views of the institutions they represent or the Center for European Policy Analysis.