Desertion was common among regional recruits, with 101 of the 189 mobilized Bessarabians fleeing an Odessa-bound train on 18 February 1943. The military courts attempted to curb this phenomenon by imposing harsh punishments on Moldovans who refused to "take the oath of fidelity": 25 years of hard labor with confiscation of property. In one instance, Romanian leader Antonescu even requested that, in case of mass desertions, every tenth defector should be shot in front of the troop. Throughout the year, the Bessarabian administration published lists with those who failed to report for conscription, with tens reported missing in various villages across the region and over 70 at Alexăndreni and Milești Mari. The ones actually drafted were moreover deemed unreliable, with Antonescu declaring in a cabinet meeting on 16 November 1943 that Bessarabians "do not want to fight" and "gravitate toward the Reds". According to Levit, part of them were sent to the Crimean front as "cannon fodder" in order to fulfill Hitler's requests for reinforcements, with their battalions positioned between German units in order to discourage flight. Bessarabians on the front line were also targeted by Soviet propaganda, which distributed leaflets calling on them to switch sides and join the Red Army and the partisans. Romanian POWs processed by the political department of the Soviet 51st Army reported that the Bessarabians were unwilling to fight and "half-openly" talked about surrender; in one instance, seven Bessarabians from an infantry battalion deserted and joined the Crimean partisans.