[UPDATE, Jan. 6 noon] Opendatabot, a Ukrainian open-data service, later published a report contesting the Financial Times’s 60,000-case claim, saying it was likely a combination of cases prosecuted under desertion (Article 408 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code) and absent without leave (AWOL, Article 407 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code).
The report, citing data from Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office, said there were 19,922 desertion cases prosecuted in the first 10 months of 2024 and another 41,950 AWOL cases opened during the year.
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However, AWOL cases can be considered desertion during wartime in Western militaries, according to ex-military personnel employed by Kyiv Post.
More Ukrainian soldiers deserted in the first 10 months of 2024 than in the previous two years combined, with prosecutors opening 60,000 cases against troops for abandoning their positions – according to a report by the Financial Times (FT). If convicted personnel face up to 12 years in prison.
A notable and worrying incident occurred in late October when it was reported that hundreds of troops from the 123 Infantry Brigade abandoned their positions in Vuhledar, in the Donetsk region, and returned to Mykolayiv.
Some publicly protested, citing inadequate weapons and training. “We arrived with just automatic rifles. They said there would be 150 tanks, but there were only 20… and nothing to cover us,” an unidentified officer from the brigade told the FT.
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On this occasion the deserters faced various outcomes: some returned to the front, others remain in hiding, and a few are in pre-trial detention. It was also reported by Polish security officials that about 12 Ukrainian soldiers desert monthly while attending training in Poland.
Military analysts cited in the FT report attribute the rise in desertions to Ukraine’s inability to rotate troops and provide adequate rest, which leads to exhaustion, mental health struggles, and mounting casualties. One officer from the 123 Brigade revealed his unit had no rotations in three years of war.
To address the issue, Ukraine’s parliament recently passed a law dropping charges for first-time deserters who return to service. According to officials, around 20% of deserters have since rejoined their units, with some brigades using innovative tools such as chatbots to facilitate and encourage returns.
As outlined in the FT, only 350,000 of the estimated Ukrainian military force of 1 million serve on active duty. The US and UK have urged Ukraine to lower its conscription age to 18 in an attempt to replenish its forces. A US official warned Ukraine is not mobilizing enough soldiers to match Russia’s growing military.
However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently told Sky News that the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) face a greater challenge from a lack of weapons and equipment provided by its allies than from a shortage of personnel, saying: “Some leaders told me you need younger [conscription age]. I said: what do you want them to do? To die without your weapons?”
Zelensky revealed that only two and a half of the planned ten brigades had been fully equipped by Kyiv’s Western allies, despite agreements made over a year ago to do so. He attributed the delays to “bureaucracy” and poor decision-making that fails to address urgent needs, stressing that protecting lives must remain the top priority.
In the same interview, Zelensky suggested that a ceasefire might be possible if NATO extends its protection to the territories currently under Kyiv’s control. He argued that this step would provide a temporary resolution to the war while creating an opportunity to diplomatically negotiate the return of occupied territories.
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