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Nearly 4,700 cases of desertion reported in Ukraine since beginning of year

The media outlet also cites a military expert who links the increase in deserters with the involuntary mobilization campaign

MOSCOW, March 18. /TASS/. Nearly 4,700 cases of soldiers abandoning their posts have been registered in Ukraine since the beginning of the year, leaps more than at the same time last year, according to the Ukrainian Obshchestvennoye media outlet.

The outlet cites data from the prosecutor general’s office indicating that 6,000 such cases were registered in 2022 and 16,000 - in 2023. However, a total of 4,690 desertion cases were reported in January-February 2024.

The media outlet also cites a military expert who links the increase in deserters with the involuntary mobilization campaign.

Earlier, Opendatabot, an online resource, pointed to the growing number of draft evaders. Thus, since 2014, Ukrainian courts have sentenced more than 3,700 draft dodgers, with about a third of these coming in 2023. Thus, as many as 1,274 people were sentenced last year, with 60 of them receiving up to five years in prison.

General mobilization was declared in Ukraine in February 2022 and has been extended several times since. Draft-age men are banned from leaving the country. Draft orders are being handed out to men seeking public services at government offices, in the streets and in other public places. Even those unfit for military service due to health problems are being drafted.

In December 2023, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said that the military command had requested to call up 500,000 more men, prompting the authorities to further toughen mobilization rules.

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