AWOL from Ukraine

The New York Times has an extensively reported piece about Russians refusing to fight in Ukraine, including details on the legal and extrajudicial punishments they face. I cannot summarize the article and do it justice, as the Times presents many anecdotes and data, even without a central repository of information detailing the number of Russian refuseniks. 

The piece frames their reporting around Maj. Mikhail Zhilin, a reluctant officer disillusioned with Russia before the war, who fled his country after he was ordered to Ukraine. Along with his unsuccessful attempt at political asylum, the reporting describes a substantial number of other Russians who refuse to fight in Ukraine, even in the face of severe consequences.

The article made me wonder, comparatively, about Ukrainian Soldiers who refuse to fight as well as Americans who deserted during recent conflicts. A quick google search failed to produce articles suggesting the Ukrainian military is dealing with the same rate of desertions, or with morale issues of military men openly questioning the rationale for war. 

The lack of reporting of Ukrainian desertions, though, makes me wonder more about the pro-Russian sentiment I see on social media, especially among peers I wrongly thought would see this as an aggressive Russian war. I know these peers would point me to more Russian friendly news sources to refute the idea that Russian wrongly started the war, or to rebut that Russia faces a morale problem. 

And that disagreement over what seems like obvious truths just draws me down the rabbit hole of wondering about the role of social media in our modern world. As we are exposed to more information, did social media expose the uncertainty inherent in our world? Or does it merely offer a venue for those to disassemble in the face of self-evident facts? In any case, without exploring those issues any further, that New York Times article presents some compelling information about Russians AWOL from Ukraine.