Signs of war fatigue on both sides of the front in Ukraine

Ukranians demonstrating against the war in Sofia, Bulgaria

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After more than two years, the war in Ukraine is taking longer than Putin probably counted on with his “special operation” with the invasion of Ukraine. Meanwhile, the strategy of Russian imperialism seems to have adjusted to the long war in which it has been seduced by U.S. imperialism under Biden. Russia has put its hopes on its vast overkill of man-force that sealed its military victories against Napoleon and Hitler. The goal of the United States in this war is to exhaust Russia, the ally of US-challenger China militarily. China, as an emerging economic and, therefore, political and military imperialist world power, has been declared by Trump and later Biden their main enemy. China is, in its best imperialist interests, forced to oust the U.S. from its position as No. 1 in the world. The war on the ground shows the same stalemate as the war of trenches in World War 1. Russia has been able to trow thousands in this ‘meatgrinder,’ 300.000 dead or wounded, mostly soldiers are recruited from Siberia and Russia’s far East, from poor backgrounds and ethnic minorities, far away from Moscow, and from prisons with the promise to be free after six months of service. 

Ukraine hunts for soldiers

Ukraine finds it hard to find conscripted men fit for service. When Russia launched its full-scale invasion, the Kyiv government prevented men aged 18 to 60 from leaving the country and began several waves of troop mobilizations. In the first months of the war, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians volunteered to fight as part of a wave of patriotism. But as the war has dragged on, most people willing to fight have already signed up, and many of those already at the front are injured or killed.

Increasingly, the army has had to turn to mobilization to fill the ranks. Viral videos have shown men snatched from the street to be conscripted, and there have been numerous corruption scandals of officials taking bribes to provide exemption. In August, Zelenskiy fired every regional recruitment chief. Once conscripted, recruits get a few weeks of training and can be sent to the front. Many Ukrainians say if called upon, they would go to the army. Still, many men of conscription age who do not want to be sent to the front have spent weeks or months hiding at home, trying to avoid the roaming squads of mobilization officers. Many join Telegram groups where people share tips on where mobilization officers work on any given day.

In the summer of 2023, sources in Odesa explained a popular scheme in the city, whereby for a fee of $5,000 in cash, men who did not want to serve could receive a fake medical report suggesting severe spinal issues, with which they would be declared exempt from conscription and be allowed to leave the country.

In September 2023, Zelenskiy sacked Oleksii Reznikov, who had been defense minister since the beginning of the war and replaced him with Rustem Umerov. Zelenskiy said he expected Umerov’s ministry to provide him with a package of new mobilization policies this week. Danilov said the army would work with two of Ukraine’s biggest recruitment companies to identify people with specific skills and dissuade skilled Ukrainians who wanted to help the army but did not want to go to the front from trying to evade the draft. “The mobilization will become more flexible, those required specialties will be announced, and people will volunteer for a concrete position. For example, they need welders, mechanics, and so on,” said Danilov. (The Guardian: Ukraine to change conscription policies in drive to sustain fighting capacity. 27-11-2023)

This more flexible and differentiated approach will help, but only temporarily. Eventually, the 150.000 “vacancies” in the trenches left by fallen and wounded soldiers (according to US sources) will have to be filled. Not only do these high casualty numbers cause recruitment problems In Ukraine, but many Ukrainian men have either fled or bribed their way out of the draft, leaving a shrinking pool of conscripts, some of whom are supposed to be exempt from mobilization. Among those remaining in the pool are many from impoverished circumstances. “It’s a war for poor people,” said one Kyiv-based lawyer, requesting anonymity so as not to criticize the military publicly. (The New York Times, ‘People Snatchers’: Ukraine’s Recruiters Use Harsh Tactics to Fill Ranks. 15-12-2023)

Protests of Ukrainian mothers and wives

Reports have appeared in the Western press about Ukrainian soldiers at the front who, after surviving the atrocities of war, long for home, for their loved ones. And their loved ones have started putting pressure on the Ukrainian authorities. As we could read on Facebook, dozens of representatives of the Ukrainian community in the Bulgarian capital, Sofia gathered in front of the National Palace of Culture in a peaceful demonstration in support of the quickest possible establishment of peace in Ukraine and an end to bloodshed:

“In front of present journalists, two of the protesters – a man and a woman of the apparent age of around 50-60 who requested anonymity for their safety. They said that the situation in Ukraine is increasingly terrible and intolerable. For example, during the day, electricity goes off in many parts of the country, including in the winter, and the victims are probably hundreds of thousands. The couple also said that the Armed Forces of Ukraine carry out mobilization excruciatingly and uncompromisingly, often without submitting summons, but directly taking young people away from the streets and malls.

According to them, every war ends only with peace and negotiations, and the sooner a dialogue for peace begins in this war, the better for the Ukrainian people, as well as the other peoples on the territory of Ukraine. The gentleman, whom we will call by the initials T for convenience, said that most Ukrainians elected President Zelensky because they wanted peace. Now, it is up to the authorities in Kyiv, as well as those in Moscow, to make peace to stop the suffering of civilians in this fratricide war.

According to him and the woman who was with him at the rally, in Ukraine, any normal life is increasingly difficult, although people adapt and struggle with the circumstances. He said that most students hold their events remotely, and they are even building an underground school in Kharkiv.

The woman with the initials B. B. said she lost her son, and as a parent who outlived her child, she does not want Ukrainians and Russians to experience this. According to her, a huge part of Ukrainian families have already lost someone in the war or have been wounded.

According to the two, foreign forces take advantage of the fratricide war, which makes no sense and can lead to nothing for Ukrainians or Russians.

A similar spirit was spoken by most of the other protesters, many of them young people, whose main hope is to return to their home country and for peace and normalization of the situation.” (Ukrainians demonstrating against the war in Sofia, Bulgaria. https://www.facebook.com/…/permalink/726453439430504/)

Russia hunts for soldiers

Similar events have been reported on the Russian side of the war front. In July 2023, Russia’s lower house of parliament voted on Tuesday to raise the maximum age at which men can be conscripted to 30 years from 27, increasing the number of young men liable for a year of compulsory military service at any one time.

Last year, Russia announced a plan to boost its professional and conscripted combat personnel by more than 30% to 1.5 million, an ambitious task made harder by its heavy but undisclosed casualties in Ukraine.

The new legislation, which comes into effect on Jan. 1, 2024, means men will be required to carry out a year of military service or equivalent training during higher education between the ages of 18 and 30 rather than 18 and 27.

The law also bans men from leaving Russia after being summoned to a conscription office. In April, legislation was passed allowing conscription summonses to be served online instead of in person.

Compulsory military service has long been a sensitive issue in Russia, where many men go to great lengths to avoid being handed conscription papers during the twice-yearly call-up periods.

Conscripts cannot legally be deployed to fight outside Russia and were, in theory, exempted from a limited mobilization last autumn that gathered at least 300,000 men with previous military training to fight in Ukraine – although some conscripts were sent to the front in error.

However, Russia unilaterally claimed four Ukrainian regions as its own last September, in a move not recognized internationally, fueling fears that raw conscripts could now legally be sent into battle.

Separately, the legislation passed gives Russian governors the power to set up regional paramilitary units during mobilization or martial law periods.

These units would be funded and armed by the state and given the right to shoot down drones, fight enemy sabotage groups, and conduct counter-terrorism operations.

Andrei Kartapolov, a former general who chairs the lower house defense committee, the State Duma, said the changes would formalize the creation of militias.

The topic has gained importance since an abortive armed mutiny last month by Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner mercenary force, which is primarily funded by the state but fought in Ukraine as a unit with broad autonomy.

“The people’s militia – how it will operate, who it will consist of … it is absolutely clear and understandable,” Kartapolov told lawmakers. (Reuters, Russia extends conscription for compulsory military service up to age 30. 25-7-2023)

Protests of mothers and wives in Russia

The loved ones of the drafted Russian soldiers forced to fight in Ukraine have appealed to the Defense Ministry, wrote letters to President Vladimir Putin, met with many officials, and even protested publicly. Their questions to Putin’s annual “direct line” call-in show for Russians last week were ignored. They mounted car sticker campaigns calling for the return of their husbands and sons. They crafted Christmas tree ornaments with the words, “Bring Papa home.” They posted impassioned video messages on social media. The Kremlin has rebuffed them. The Kremlin is determined to stifle dissent in this highly charged atmosphere. Still, there is no easy answer to women furious that their sons and husbands are being forced to fight until the end of the war.

Petersburg. Photograph: Put Domoy

Russian authorities have sent agents of the Federal Security Service, or FSB, to question soldiers whose wives are involved, according to an increasingly strident Telegram group, “The Way Home,” which is leading the campaign to bring men home. Military officers have threatened to send soldiers into front-line assault operations unless they silence their wives, it reports.

“Your methods are very dirty. You are trying to calm our anger by putting pressure on our relatives. Keep in mind that we can lose them at any moment. You are playing with their lives and ours,” according to a Dec. 19 post on the channel. “These are the obvious methods of cowards and rats.”

A day earlier, the channel urged Putin to end the war “or go to the front yourself and die.”

State television propagandists called them traitors and Nazi collaborators. Slick videos from rival groups of military women have condemned them.

Olga Lesnova, a lawmaker in Ugra in southern Russia, held classes for soldiers’ wives on “how to get rid of resentment toward the world.” Officials have infiltrated the Telegram channel, and FSB officials have questioned women about planned protests, according to “The Way Home.” (The Washington Post, Russia’s military wives emerge as a wild card to Putin’s triumphal mood. 28-12-2023)

Another reason for resentment is the fact that prisoners, including those convicted of serious crimes, who sign the contract (six to eighteen months) remain at liberty after their military service ends and often commit new crimes. At the same time, civilians who are mobilized are doomed to serve until the war is over. (Jacobin, Protests by Soldiers’ Wives in Russia Show How an Antiwar Movement Can Grow There. 19-12-2023)

Also interesting is the indignation in Russia about the ‘almost naked’ party in a luxury private club attended by the filthy rich. The Putin regime immediately characterized it as ‘decadent’ and scandalous in times of war and by the West as ‘liberalist freedom.’

From war weariness to proletarian resistance on both sides

Of course, this war weariness is still expressed in terms of war propaganda and the broader prevailing bourgeois ideology. Partly unconsciously, partly consciously – to avoid repression – this movement on both sides of the ground war can develop into the understanding that it is primarily the working class that pays the cost with its lives, injuries, and traumas. The war’s course shows its true character of an all-destructive redistribution of imperialist spheres of influence without reconstruction. The movement against the war can develop further into mass desertions and mutinies on the fronts, especially when reports of strikes in the arms industry reach the war front “back home.” While the ground war is deadlocked in winter, the war in the air intensifies with bombs, missiles, and drones fired by both sides at the opponent’s population. In Ukraine, reports of this will be alarming and demotivating for the soldiers on the front lines. On the Russian side, Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory may be used by the Putin regime to revive the myth of a “war of defense against fascism. But at the same time, Russian soldiers in the dugouts on the frozen front will also wonder what they are doing there. From Word War One, we know that it can take years of war before war weariness develops in a proletarian direction. Understanding the different and opposing class interests in an inter-imperialist war is a difficult and painful process that develops unequally between minorities and the masses of the proletariat. It is difficult to understand that the greatest enemy is not on the other side of the trenches or behind the guns, in the planes or at the launchers of drones and missiles, but instead the regimes in command, in the “other” country and at home. That it is the exploiters and oppressors on both sides of the front that have an interest in this war, and not the oppressed and exploited.

And at our home?

This class character of the war, which is ultimately the war of capitalist imperialism against the world working class, seems more straightforward to understand for those who do not live in a war zone, who live in a false “peace,” in states that fuel the war with billions of money and streams of weapons. Essential is the understanding that this support for the war in Ukraine does not protect the workers of Europe or America from the Russian or Chinese “enemy.” The same goes for the war in Gaza. It will not protect us from “Islamic Jihadism” as we are made to believe, but it serves only the imperialist interests of our exploiters and oppressors. This consciousness is present only among a handful of people. But as in Russia and Ukraine, a mass consciousness can only emerge if the minorities express it in public, with precise analyses of the origin of the billions of Euros and flows of arms toward Ukraine, just like those toward Israel. Instead, we see those handful of conscious elements indulge in sectarian differentiation and exclusion.

Fredo Corvo, 4-1-2024