13 Mar, 11:33

Desertion in Ukraine surges 11-fold in 2024, continues to rise — diplomat

Maria Zakharova stressed that "in reality, according to expert estimates, there are more than 150,000 people on the run in Ukraine today"

MOSCOW, March 13. /TASS/. The number of deserters in the Ukrainian armed forces in 2024, according to official data, has increased elevenfold compared to 2022, and in the first months of 2025, the figure continues to grow, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing.

"Reports about the scale of desertion in the Ukrainian military have appeared in open sources. According to the Ukrainian Interior Ministry, in 2024, compared to the first year of the special military operation, the number of cases of unauthorized abandonment of the unit increased sevenfold, and desertion - elevenfold," the diplomat pointed out.

She noted that "in 2022, 3,214 people deserted from the Ukrainian armed forces, 6,183 people left a military unit in Ukraine, and in 2024 these figures amounted to 23,209 people and 66,240 people respectively."

Zakharova stressed that "in reality, according to expert estimates, there are more than 150,000 people on the run in Ukraine today." "And such dynamics have a steady upward trend. In January-February 2025, 35,738 people defected in Ukraine," the spokeswoman emphasized.

She explained that these Ukrainian defectors "realize that they have been deceived by the Kiev regime, deceived by [Vladimir] Zelensky, deceived by all these so-called liberal Western democracies, and in fact dictatorial regimes, that they have been used, that they are now simply being killed by those who told them about the great future under Zelensky."

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Ukraine crisis Foreign policy Maria Zakharova

Military operation in Ukraine

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