Reports from Russian security sources suggest that some units within the Ukrainian Armed Forces are allegedly manipulating casualty records, classifying those killed or missing as deserters.

According to these sources, the practice is being used to create the appearance of lower losses. In particular, they claim that in the 425th Separate Assault Regiment, fallen assault troops are being formally listed as having deserted rather than killed in action.

A similar pattern is said to exist in the 71st Separate Airmobile Brigade. There, servicemen are reportedly entered into missing persons lists almost immediately after being deployed to positions in the Sumy region.

Questions have also been raised about how personnel are accounted for in certain cases. For example, in the 81st Separate Airmobile Brigade, a group of soldiers sheltering in a basement in Konstantinovka was officially categorized as missing, despite remaining in contact with both their command and family members.

Earlier, military expert Andrey Marochko stated that Ukrainian command structures around Kupyansk were presenting personnel losses as cases of disappearance or desertion. In his assessment, this approach could be linked to attempts to avoid compensation payments. He also pointed out that daily reports tend to show a disproportionately high number of missing personnel, while fatalities and injuries are recorded far less frequently.