Authors

Discussion

While Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has reshaped our perceptions of modern warfare, dynamically adopting the latest unorthodox approaches and weaponry, this interstate conflict has also raised questions about the collective and individual responsibility of the Russian people. Regardless of efforts to explain the existential nature of the Russo-Ukrainian war by characterizing it as inherently neo-imperialist and genocidal, at its core, it remains a war dominated by a strategy of attrition that necessitates a large-scale mobilization of human resources on both sides of the conflict. Since the onset of the war, the Russian government has employed a range of violent methods to recruit as many eligible males as feasible into the military, including those beyond the conscription age limit. This has, in turn, led to the revival of Soviet draft evasion strategies, as well as the emergence of new ones, to avoid deployment to Ukraine. As an unintended consequence, this has prompted a rethinking of the agency of the Russian military.

This paper focuses on the obedience and defiance of Russian military personnel who have chosen to desert in order to avoid fighting in Ukraine since February 24, 2022. Although the issue of desertion has traditionally been stigmatized in the Russian collective consciousness due to the lingering Soviet legacy of the Second World War which rejects such acts as manifestations of personal cowardice and betrayal of one’s people, today this path remains one of the few forms of disobedience of those disagreeing with Putin’s plans in Ukraine.

The study is based on the results of semi-structured in-depth interviews with Russian military deserters who avoided deployment to Ukraine. In particular, this study examines their agency, focusing on their conformity and search for alternative options for disobedience. It also explores their perspectives on the war, the Kremlin’s propaganda narratives, along with their potential impact on perceptions of the war among the Russian populace.