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Desertions hit record in Ukrainian army in October — security forces

The main reasons for the flight are forced mobilization and incompetence of the command staff, which practically does not appear on the front line, preferring to sit in dugouts several kilometers off the front line, a source in the Russian law enforcement agencies said

MOSCOW, November 7. /TASS/. October became a record month by the number of unauthorized abandonment of the Ukrainian army - over 21,000 troops escaped, a source in the Russian law enforcement agencies told TASS.

"Last month, according to official data, 21,602 people escaped from the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The previous record was in May 2025 with 19,900 criminal cases under the articles ‘unauthorized abandonment of a unit’ and ‘desertion,’" the source said.

The source said that the reasons for the flight have been voiced more than once. The main ones are forced mobilization and incompetence of the command staff, which practically does not appear on the front line, preferring to sit in dugouts several kilometers off the front line.

The source cited as an example the statements of Ukrainian commander Igor Lutsenko, who drew attention to the fact that the Ukrainian army "is crumbling." According to him, a soldier escapes from the Ukrainian army every two minutes, but many cases are not registered.

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