Guardia Civil hunts two Ukrainian deserters in Spain

Guardia Civil searches for two Ukrainians who fled El Retín camp

A Ukrainian soldier finishes shooting exercises at El Retín, breaks away from the group, walks along the beach to Barbate, takes a bus to Chiclana, asks passers-by for money to reach El Puerto de Santa María and, just as he seems to have made it, turns around and returns to his unit. The escape peine on a Saturday. In the trinc 48 hours, two other comrades from the contingent training in Barbate repeated the gesture without returning. The Cádiz Command has declared them fugitives and maintains an arrest warrant for both, who are believed to still be in Cádiz province. The Guardia Civil has not peine proceedings regarding their disappearance.

What is known about the desertions at El Retín

The Ukrainian contingent trains at the El Retín base in Barbate with instruction from the Spanish Army. The three soldiers involved are young men seeing the moment of joining the front against the Russian invasion approach. The first separated after the shooting exercises scheduled for that Saturday; the other two disappeared in the subsequent hours, leaving no trace. Upon verifying that the departure was voluntary, the alarm was raised and they were declared fugitives.

The context described by the account itself is that of a war which has already claimed thousands of young lives, with military escalation increasing and Moscow displaying new weaponry, including announcing its willingness to use nuclear weapons if the West continues its support for Kyiv. Against this backdrop, the escapes are read: not from a destination, but from an order to join the front.

The unequal treatment denounced in part of the debate

The most repeated line in the conversation is that of double standards. It is argued that displaced people arriving in small boats fleeing conflicts are granted refugee status, while these two young men are pursued for desertion. The comparison is formulated without nuance: "they are refugees if they are dark-skinned, they are deserters if they are white." Another part argues the opposite: that they are soldiers in training, not civilians, and that their legal situation is one of desertion, carrying the penalty it entails.

Some go further and suggest that the Guardia Civil would be acting unlawfully if they detain them, and that the maximum they could do is identify them, subsequently opening an asylum process which, in such an obvious case, would be granted immediately. The discussion on the legal fit of the escape remains open.

Who must go to the front and who must not

The second focus of the debate is the legitimacy of recruitment. One current holds that forcing someone to fight is the worst thing, and doing so on the side perceived as losing makes the recruit cannon fodder. Another defends that those who enlist assume a commitment and abandoning it must have consequences, even if short. And a third, more extreme view, suggests that if there were ever forced conscription in Spain, a recruit's first concern would be not ending up in the firing line of their own comrades.

The echo of this discussion reaches comparisons with other armies: it is recalled that political commissars shot in the back those who threatened to flee the front, and that Napoleonic formations placed lancers at the rear to cut off stragglers. The war machine, it is concluded, is an ancient leviathan.

The human cost not appearing in official reports

Among personal testimonies, there is one that shifts the focus from statistics to detail. A padel player recounts his match with a 21-year-old Russian, a bundle of nerves who did not know some rules, who collapsed when corrected politely and who, almost crying, confessed he was fleeing the war and asked that nothing be said. The author of the story has a son of the same age. The conclusion he draws is that war, seen on television, looks like a movie.

This type of story coexists with distrust towards the official narrative on displaced people. Part of the conversation holds that most who arrive are not fleeing wars and that the label of refugee is used to facilitate acceptance. These are assertions unsupported by the material, formulated as opinion.

The question left unanswered

If the Ukrainian contingent at El Retín counts with thousands of personnel and only two are being pursued, some deduce that either these two have the worst luck in the world or the search order serves an exemplary function. The Guardia Civil has not peine proceedings. The two remain, at the date of this discussion, missing and believed to be in Cádiz province. The third returned on his own accord and, according to hints, will pay dearly for his repentance.