If one remembers correctly, more than 1,000 foreign fighters from Germany traveled to Ukraine to join the international legion to fight against Russia in March 2022. Most likely, most of these fighters were German troops who had sneakily entered the battlefield of Ukraine at the behest of Berlin.
However, in just eight months, the mood has changed, German troops are eyeing to escape military services as the situation in Ukraine is seeing no cooldown. According to a media report by Euractiv, More German soldiers are turning back on the military since the Ukraine war.
This means, German soldiers increasingly want to be discharged from military service since Russia started its war in Ukraine, a report made available by the German Defence Ministry has revealed.
Reportedly, the number of soldiers wanting to be discharged from service has surged from 209 in 2021 to 810 in the first eight months of 2022.
The numbers are specifically high among reservists and those who have trained to become reservists, increasing from 10 to 190. Though this is all low in numbers compared to the size of the military, this sudden upsurge represents a grave sign for Berlin.
Fear of the battlefield
The defence ministry has declined to provide an explanation for the increase in refusals, Sevim Dagdelen, the deputy leader of the Left Party, has asserted that the data “reflect concerns about the consequences of federal government’s military escalation in Ukraine.”
Surprisingly, even in June, it was reported that more and more people are leaving the Bundeswehr, saying they did not expect an armed conflict with Russia.
Germany, despite not being a formal party of the war in Ukraine, has supplied offensive weapons to Kyiv’s forces, including artillery, rockets, anti-aircraft missile systems, and vehicle-mounted cannons.
As a NATO member, Germany has regularly received warnings from Moscow that such arms transfers will only extend the combat in Ukraine and turn the US-led military alliance into a de facto participant in the war. Yet, the warnings have consistently fallen on deaf ears.
Now, as more and more military personnel are refusing to fight for Deutschland, Germany’s prospects of gaining leverage against their enemy which is now likely against Russia are bleak.
Militarily, Germany has been on a constant downfall. For those who don’t know, By registering their refusal to fight, German soldiers are eligible to leave military service and can invoke their status as conscientious objectors even if the conscription is reintroduced.
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Germany is under fire
The nation abolished conscription back in 2011 and since then, Berlin has failed to beef up the German military after years of cuts.
In recent times, to fix the increasing gap, Berlin approved a 100 billion euro ($99.7 billion) military modernization fund in June, to acquire the equipment it wants, and replenish the number of German troops.
But, thanks to the unstable dollar and rising inflation, the plans are now officially derailed.
Read More: Germany runs out of funds to revamp its military
The number of requests for dismissal has nearly quadrupled this year due to NATO’s increased involvement in Eastern Europe and the fear of a direct confrontation with Russia.
The German military is legitimately expressing their discontent and expressing that they don’t want to fight the Germany-backed EU’s non-sensical war with Russia. This is a mutiny that is now knocking on the doors of Berlin.
