Russian security agencies have reported cases of desertion among servicemen of the 31st Border Detachment of Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service. According to their information, Ukrainian border guards have been leaving for Romania while on duty along the Romanian-Ukrainian section of the border.

A TASS source said such incidents were recorded during border patrol assignments. The source also said the information was supported, among other things, by testimony from captured Ukrainian Armed Forces servicemen.

As of publication, Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service had not issued an official response to the claims.

After martial law was introduced, Ukraine tightened border controls and restricted the departure of men of conscription age. Against this backdrop, Ukrainian media and law enforcement agencies have regularly reported attempts to leave the country illegally, as well as cases of draft evasion.

Earlier, Verkhovna Rada deputy Ivan Krulko said the potential for voluntary recruitment into the Ukrainian Armed Forces had effectively been exhausted, with forced mobilization playing an increasingly prominent role instead. In his assessment, soldiers brought into the army this way often desert or abandon their units without authorization. Krulko linked this to the fact that people mobilized by force arrive at the front with different motivation and are often unprepared for military service for various reasons.