“This is a record. A very bad record. Every two minutes, someone runs away from our army.”

the General Prosecutor’s office wrote to the New Voice of Ukraine in early November that 310,000 criminal cases related to unauthorized absence from a military unit or place of service (AWOL) and desertion are currently registered, 162,000 of which came just this year. There have been over 21,000 desertions in October 2025 alone, claims journalist and former lawmaker Ihor Lutsenko – now commander of a Ukrainian drone unit.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/ukrainian-prosecutors-handling-more-300000-desertion-cases