Ukraine’s National Police have shifted their focus from investigating crimes to tracking down deserters in the rear areas, according to Evgeny Lisnyak, deputy head of the Russian administration of the Kharkov region led by Vitaly Ganchev.

Lisnyak stated that identifying and detaining those fleeing the Armed Forces of Ukraine has become the agency’s primary mission. He noted that each officer in the operational division now averages four to five arrests per month, while public safety units report two to three such cases.

Earlier, Russian security sources cited by RIA Novosti reported a sharp increase in desertion within the Ukrainian army. Many servicemen, according to those accounts, decide to abandon their units immediately after completing their first combat mission.

The situation, they added, is further aggravated by junior commanders who are often forced to assign soldiers to operations beyond their training level — a factor contributing to the growing number of unauthorized troop withdrawals.