After watching a few videos I got more information about an interesting topic, that of “refuseniks” in the Ukrainian Army and how this is being addressed.

In this video (the subtitles' translation is far from perfect, but I think I understood enough) a soldier, callsign “Vodolaz,” from Sumy, is interviewed. He joined the ranks of the Armed Forces from the very beginning: he fought in the 117th TDF Brigade of Sumy Oblast at the start of the invasion, receiving a decoration for bravery shown there (Order for Courage of Third Class). Afterwards, the soldiers were offered to move to the Ground Forces. Vodolaz accepted and was assigned to the 63rd Separate Rifle Battalion (I knew nothing about this unit, except that in December it was mentioned by a Russian Telegram channel as being part of the Avdiivka garrison).

After the start of the Avdiivka offensive, this battalion was transferred to the Donbas and on October 19 arrived in Pokrovsk, where Vodolaz and the rest of the company (consisting of 65 soldiers) had to find accommodation on their own and at their own monetary expenses. Vodolaz in the video complains often about the battalion commander, a lieutenant colonel. He says that only about 20 soldiers from his company have ever seen his face. He orders that one company must go to the frontline and the commander of Vodolaz’s company accepts the assignment. The soldiers are ordered to take their gear, food for a day and are told they will have nothing to sleep in there; they will have to occupy foxholes where they can have protection from Russian shells. The location is near the Avdiivka Coke Plant, on the other side of the railway.

A section of machine gunners is brought to the position. The commander of the squad is killed, other soldiers wounded, and there are problems in their evacuation due to incorrect directions. Vodolaz’s company asks for “intelligence” regarding the area where they are to be deployed, but they are told there is not. At that point the company had a mass mutiny and demanded the removal of the lieutenant colonel. Otherwise, they will ask to join the 3rd Assault Brigade (which is revered by Ukrainian soldiers) en masse. Since the first option did not seem possible, the soldiers took contact with the staff of the 3rd Brigade, which analyzed their applications and replied that it had accepted everyone and they could arrange the transfer. At that point they discovered that the lieutenant colonel had declared them all deserters and their company had been disbanded. The soldiers were transferred to assault detachments of different brigades. Vodolaz was assigned to the 58th Motorized Brigade. The day after arriving he was sent to the “zero line” along with other “refuseniks”. The 58th Motorized Brigade is active between Urozhaine and Novomaiorske in the Velyka Novosilka sector and the very same day he is sent there things became very hot: there was an attack by the 37th Motorized Brigade (36th Army, EMD). Vodolaz’s position is attacked by about 30 Russians, along with several armored vehicles. Vodolaz and the other soldiers manage to withstand the assault, despite the fact that the Russian stormtroopers came just a few steps away from their trenches and used many grenades against them. Eventually the Russians had to flee, with human and material losses, while Vodolaz’s squad had only one MIA (if I understood correctly) in addition to four wounded. Vodolaz distinguished himself in this action and received a new decoration for bravery (Order for Bravery of Second Class). He disabled at least one Russian armored vehicle with a RPG, and during the fighting he managed to get out of the trench and take magazines and grenades from a dead Russian. Vodolaz praises the brigade’s command and the coordination with the artillery.

There is also another interview, which in this case Dmtri (WarTranslated) translated with subtitles, with a company commander of the 53rd Mechanized Brigade, active in the southern flank of Avdiivka. This commander talks about how he’s always willing to welcome “refusenik” from other brigades into his company as he thinks most of them are not bad people or cowards, but need proper guidance and motivation. Some “refuseniks” became squad commanders.

These stories make it very clear that a priority of Ukraine for 2024 is to work on the quality of officers. There are of course cases of cowardice on the part of troops, but they are limited, and soldiers like Vodolaz are anything but cowards. They just need to find officers who will allow them to make the most of their potential. Combat orders should be understood by the troops and not totally imposed on them. Maintaining high morale is important, especially given the difficulties with recruiting.