"Rather Go to Prison Than Die on the Battlefield"… 60,000 Ukrainian Soldiers Desert

Nearly Double the Number of Deserters in the Past 2 Years
Surge in Deserters Pushes Ukraine's War Situation into Defensive
Ukrainian Military Has Only 350,000 Active Duty Personnel

As the Russia-Ukraine war approaches its third year, foreign media reports have revealed that the number of Ukrainian soldiers who deserted this year has reached 60,000. On the 21st of last month, the Ukrainian parliament amended a decree to decide not to prosecute 'first-time offenders' who deserted but later returned to their units.

On the 1st (local time), the British Financial Times (FT) reported that the Ukrainian prosecution had brought about 60,000 Ukrainian soldiers accused of desertion between January and October of this year to trial. Despite the fact that under Ukrainian law, a guilty verdict for desertion can result in a prison sentence of up to 12 years, the number of deserters has surged. The 60,000 figure is nearly double the number of deserters that occurred over the two years from 2022, the first year of the war, to 2023.

As the Russia-Ukraine war approaches its third year, foreign media reports that the number of Ukrainian soldiers who have deserted this year has reached 60,000. On the 21st of last month, the Ukrainian parliament amended the law to decide not to prosecute 'first-time offenders' who deserted but returned to their units. Photo by AFP Yonhap News

At the end of October, hundreds of infantry soldiers belonging to the 123rd Brigade stationed in Bukhledar, a city in eastern Ukraine, abandoned their positions and returned to their homes in Mykolaiv. Some of them publicly protested, stating that they needed more weapons and training. An officer of the 123rd Brigade told FT, "We arrived (in Bukhledar) with only automatic rifles," adding, "They (the command) said there would be 150 tanks, but there were only 20, and there was nowhere to hide." Currently, only some of the deserters from the 123rd Brigade have returned to the front lines, while the rest remain missing. A few have been detained and are awaiting trial. Military officials stated that most deserters are combat troops, including infantry and assault units.

The surge in desertions is further worsening Ukraine's deteriorating military situation. Since this summer, Russia has intensified its human wave-style offensives, even with the addition of North Korean troops, and Ukraine is losing ground on the eastern front. Military experts point out that Ukraine, facing numerical inferiority, has failed to recruit new soldiers in time and has been unable to withdraw exhausted troops to the rear promptly. As a result, the fatigue of experienced soldiers has accumulated, leading to a vicious cycle of loss of life. Although the Ukrainian military strength is recorded at about one million, only 350,000 are active-duty personnel. Among them, the Ukrainian military authorities plan to conscript an additional 160,000 soldiers over the next three months until February next year to replenish their forces.