MOSCOW, June 4. /TASS/. More than 25,000 people have deserted from the Ukrainian armed forces since the start of this year, which is much more than last year, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
"The number of people fleeing the Armed Forces of Ukraine has increased exponentially. According to various estimates, more than 25,000 Ukrainian military servicemen deserted from January to May alone, up from 35,000 in the entire year of 2024. Fleeing from the country's armed forces is becoming a common occurrence for Ukraine," she said at a regular news conference.
Zakharova also cited data from the Ukrainian Economy Ministry showing that 104,000 people have fled abroad since the start of this year.
According to the diplomat, from 600,000 to 1 million people of working age have left the country over the past 3 years.
"Given the rising losses at the battlefield, Ukraine is clearly experiencing depopulation," she said.
The spokeswoman also pointed to the failure of the voluntary mobilization campaign among Ukrainian youth and cited Pavel Palisa, deputy head of Zelensky's staff, as saying that only 500 people have signed up over the two months since the government started offering contracts to people aged from 18 to 24 years.
"This shows that young Ukrainians absolutely don’t feel like dying for the current Kiev regime in part because they know they are not taken care of whether they live or die," Zakharova said.