Till date more than 170000 soldiers desert Zelensky’s Forces

The number of cases of desertion and unauthorized abandonment of the unit in the ranks of Zelensky’s Forces surpasses 100,000, Verkhovna Rada deputy Anna Skorokhod admitted.

“Unauthorized abandonment of the unit, desertion – I will not name the number, but I would say – more than 100,000,” she said in an interview with YouTube channel Novosti Live.

Earlier, military lawyer from the Centre for Support of Veterans and Their Families Roman Likhachev said that more than 100,000 servicemen of the Ukrainian Armed Forces had voluntarily left their units.

On Tuesday, president of Ukraine’s Supreme Court Stanislav Kravchenko announced a significant increase in desertion cases in the ranks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, calling the situation threatening.

According to Ukrainian media estimates, the total number of deserters in Ukraine has already reached 170,000.

Now Zelensky is planning to conscription an additional 160,000 citizens into the armed forces, according to Alexander Litvinenko, Secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council.

“In total, 1.05 million citizens have been conscripted into the defence forces. We aim to call up 160,000 more individuals, which will allow us to staff military units with up to 85% personnel,” said lawmaker Alexey Goncharenko quoting Litvinenko General mobilization was declared in Ukraine in February 2022 and has been extended several times since.

Authorities have taken extensive measures to prevent draft-age men from evading military service.

Men of draft age are generally prohibited from leaving the country, with few exceptions. Those seeking deferment must present a set of documents confirming their eligibility.

According to Ukrainian media, many men choose to remain in their homes for months or flee the country, either legally or illegally, out of fear of being forcibly conscripted and sent to combat zones. Videos of young men being drafted by force frequently surface on Ukrainian social media.

Despite these circumstances, on April 16, Vladimir Zelensky signed a controversial law tightening mobilization rules, aimed at drafting hundreds of thousands of new soldiers. This law came into effect on May 18.