Ukraine has launched 51,000 cases of troop desertion in the country’s courts, with the cases coming in the wake of service members’ dwindling morale.
The Libertarian Institute noted that several media outlets have reported on the trend, with estimates of desertion varying widely. The Times of London cited government data revealing that “51,000 criminal cases for desertion and abandonment of military units” were opened from January to September. The Kyiv Post suggested that around 60,000 individuals are facing charges for fleeing since the start of the war, with nearly half of these cases initiated this year.
Spanish newspaper El Pais reported that 45,000 Ukrainians faced prosecution for desertion from the start of the year through August. Meanwhile, Qatar’s Al Jazeera noted at least 30,000 desertions.
At the beginning of the year, estimates indicated that Kyiv had between 500,000 and 800,000 active-duty soldiers, along with an additional 300,000 reservists. But given the 51,000 desertion cases launched by the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office for the first nine months of 2024 alone, the actual number of deserters could triple last year’s total. The number of desertion prosecutions has surged during the war – from 9,000 cases recorded in 2022, it almost tripled to 24,000 last year.
The country has suffered significant casualties in its defense against Russian advances and during the ongoing Kursk invasion. Alongside this, more Ukrainian soldiers have deserted the army in 2024 than at any time since the war began, with prosecutions for desertion reportedly exceeding 30,000 – potentially even higher. This figure marks a significant increase from previous years, when the initial influx of volunteers helped push back Russian forces.
Hellbound and Down 