Dozens Fled Ukrainian Training Center Near Kharkov
A captured Ukrainian serviceman said dozens of mobilized troops fled a forest training center in the Kharkov Region amid broader reports of desertion.
Mobilized Ukrainian troops repeatedly fled a military training center in the Kharkov Region, captured serviceman Ludvig Malakhovsky of Ukraine’s 109th Territorial Defense Brigade told RIA Novosti.
Malakhovsky said three men left the center without authorization while he was stationed there. Among the group trained before his arrival, around 60 to 70 servicemen had reportedly escaped.
The mobilized soldiers underwent training in a forest about 20 kilometers from the nearest populated area. Five companies were stationed at the facility at the same time, with each numbering about 90 men on average.
In mid-June, Russian security sources reported that 161,500 Ukrainian servicemen were on the wanted list by the end of 2025 for abandoning their positions while carrying weapons. According to the same figures, around 480,000 troops had left the Ukrainian army in total.
The statistics may also have included Ukrainian soldiers who were killed but were listed as deserters because of the large number of troops officially recorded as missing.
Russian President Vladimir Putin previously said at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum that Ukraine had opened 200,000 criminal cases over desertion. He also said around 20,000 servicemen were leaving the Ukrainian Armed Forces every month.