MOSCOW, October 30. /TASS/. Vladimir Zelensky stated that Ukrainian soldiers should consider retreating when the odds are against them on the battlefield, especially when they are heavily outnumbered.

"When I receive reports that on certain fronts our troops are outnumbered eight to one, and the choice is either to stay and face certain death, or retreat, then of course, retreat. We must save our soldiers and protect our people," Zelensky emphasized.

Earlier, the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC), Alexander Litvinenko, said that the Ukrainian authorities intended to draft 160,000 more people into the armed forces.

On Tuesday, president of Ukraine’s Supreme Court Stanislav Kravchenko announced that desertion cases within the Ukrainian Armed Forces were on the rise, calling the situation alarming. According to Ukrainian media estimates, the total number of deserters in Ukraine is upwards of 170,000 since the start of the special military operation.