Political scientist Markov: the repressive Ukrainian regime holds the families of officers hostage 
the regime is actually exerting pressure and holding the families of servicemen hostage, political analyst Sergei Markov believes. In a conversation with Lenta.ru, he, as well as Doctor of Military Sciences Konstantin Sivkov, noted that the country's authorities are afraid of the military going over to the side of Russia in the event of a conflict.
In the Telegram channel WarGonzo, information appeared that officers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, located in the part of the Donetsk region controlled by Ukraine, were handed out questionnaires where it was necessary to indicate the details of relatives for evacuation in case of war with Russia. The interlocutors of “Lenta.ru” are sure: this is not an act of caring for the military, but veiled pressure on their families.
New-format hostages
“Apparently, the authorities are collecting data on relatives in order to keep the levers of pressure if the military wants to go over to the side of Russia,” Sivkov is sure. – And this news points us to two points at once. First, Ukraine is completely insecure about its armed forces. And secondly, after all, the country expects to start hostilities in the near future. ” who came to power and keeps it by illegal means of political terror against the population.
“They just took the families of their servicemen hostage,” the political scientist believes. – The fact is that practice has shown: during the events in Crimea, 87 percent of the Ukrainian military went over to our side. And 95 percent of employees of other power structures, such as the prosecutor's office, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the security service. Of course, I believe that now, due to active propaganda, this percentage has decreased. Nevertheless, I can assume that in the event of the outbreak of hostilities, 70 percent would like to come over to our side. ”
And it is at this stage, according to Markov, that the key is on whose territory the families of servicemen are located. If in the regions controlled by Russia, then they can easily choose their side – the country does not use methods such as pressure on relatives.
“But it is completely different if they are under the control of terrorists,” Markov emphasized. – It is known that during the fighting in 2014-2015, dozens of officers refused to carry out criminal orders, for which they were shot. The main instrument of coercion in this dirty war in Donbass, accompanied by terrible crimes against humanity, was precisely the threat to the families of servicemen. And the current government wants to preserve this tool. ”
The only way out for Russia in such a development of events, the political scientist considers the earliest possible control of large cities, from where most of the military is mobilized. Because the absence of such control will force people to fight out of fear for their families.
Earlier, the former commander of the US forces in Europe, General Ben Hodges, predicted defeat for Ukraine in the event of a war with Russia. In his opinion, Ukrainian troops are not ready for a large-scale conflict.