South Front
Ukrainian servicemen of the 110 brigade, 3rd battalion, 9 battalion of the AFU gave an interview to Ukrainian media. He revealed that the Ukrainian commanders prohibit evacuation of dead servicemen from the battlefields and explained the scheme used by these commanders to steal money from their soldiers.
Firstly, it is worth noting that this is not the first testimony of Ukrainian soldiers who pledges on the corruption of the Ukrainian military command. A lot of Ukrainian prisoners of war made similar claims. Moreover, they confirm that the AFU units do not bother about the faith not only of the corps of the dead but also about their wounded comrads who are often abandoned on the battlefields.
However, this is likely the first Ukrainian servicemen whose claims were published by Ukrainian media.
The servicemen explained that salaries and bonuses to Ukrainian servicemen are not paid directly by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence but funds are distributed by the local commanders. Until the death of a servicemen on the battlefield is officially confirmed and if there is no body of the dead, he is considered missing for three months. During this period, there are salaries to be paid to these “missing” soldiers. Ukrainian commanders do not officially confirm their deaths and take money of the deceased soldiers in their pockets.
The Ukrainian military also hides the data on the dead and wounded in order not to pay compensation to the relatives of the deceased servicemen. According to the claims of Ukrainian POWs, a family should receive 15 million hryvnias for the death of any serviceman. Amid the heavy losses of the Ukrainian Army, the Ukrainian state budget can not cope with this financial burden. Ukrainian commanders make it very difficult to find out the real reasons for the loss of their fighters. For example, they often declare that servicemen were not killed but deserted. As a result, relative of Ukrainian soldiers are left without money and any information about their sons, husbands, fathers etc.
