MOSCOW, December 22. /TASS/. Ukrainian servicemen are abandoning their positions due to frustration over low pay and despair over the impossibility of improving their financial situation, the Strana publication reported, citing Ukrainian soldiers who are preparing to leave their military units without authorization.

"A salary of 21,000 hryvnias (about $500) is not enough to cover basic needs. A serviceman cannot feed his family under such conditions. Going AWOL [absence without leave - TASS] is the only option. I am preparing for it. We even discussed it in the unit, and the sergeant had nothing to say, he just said: 'I don't care, do as you wish, there won't be more money.' They won't even try to stop us," the publication quoted a serviceman as saying.

He explained that his decision to abandon service was prompted by the Verkhovna Rada’s adoption of the state budget for 2026, which provides for a tripling of deputies' salaries but fails to address the needs of the military. "After the adoption of the 2026 state budget, it became completely obvious that the authorities do not intend to raise servicemen’s salaries. That is, there is money to increase payments to deputies to 200,000 hryvnias ($4,700), but not for us," the soldier explained.

He suggested that AWOL could become an even more widespread phenomenon in the Ukrainian army in the coming months. Moreover, according to him, officers are not even surprised by this and do not try to combat the problem, as they themselves also face financial hardship.

Since January 2025, the number of cases of desertion and going AWOL in the Ukrainian army has reached about 17,000-18,000 people per month, which nearly matches, even without counting those killed and wounded, the inflow of mobilized personnel into the military — an average of about 20,000 per month, with the best-case scenario being 30,000. According to the latest data, in 2025, 161,500 cases have been initiated in Ukraine under the article on AWOL, which is four times higher than last year.