Faced with a choice between years in prison and a return to the frontline, the soldier took the second option. Arrested on October 9, 2024, by the Ukrainian authorities, Serhiy Hnezdilov was incarcerated after publicly announcing his decision to desert his military unit without authorization. "I didn't desert because I didn't want to fight anymore. I did it because I wanted to draw attention to problems in the army," said the man who has just reunited with his fellow soldiers from the 56th motorized brigade, deployed in Donbas, in eastern Ukraine. On Tuesday, February 4, he confirmed his arrival with a photo of himself, his face covered by a mask of Dobby, the house-elf from the Harry Potter saga: "Dobby is back."
In September 2024, this soldier, who enlisted in 2019, justified his decision to leave his unit in an open letter describing the fatigue experienced by military units and the sense of injustice that many felt in the face of the refusal by civilians to enlist. The man asked the Ukrainian government to codify a demobilization clause for soldiers as the length of service remains unstipulated. In his view, this would be a way of re-motivating exhausted men and, at the same time, attracting new recruits worried about signing up for an indefinite period. This departure caused quite a scandal. Some supported his action, while others accused the 25-year-old of acting irresponsibly and encouraging other soldiers to desert. "I'm not an enemy of the state. All I wanted was for my army to be more powerful," the Ukrainian said by way of explanation.
You have 61.54% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.