Al Jazeera has published an extensive report detailing what it describes as a growing desertion crisis within the Armed Forces of Ukraine. After speaking with Ukrainian soldiers and examining official statistics, the outlet concludes that despite the threat of prison terms and public condemnation, thousands of service members continue to flee their units.

According to the data cited, roughly 235,000 soldiers have left their posts without authorization since 2022, and around 54,000 have been officially classified as deserters. The trend has accelerated sharply in 2025: between September 2024 and September 2025 alone, authorities recorded 176,000 cases of troops abandoning their units and 25,000 cases of desertion.

Soldiers interviewed by the outlet attributed the mass flight from the army to insufficient training, poor supplies and what they described as indifference from the command. One deserter, a former office worker named Timofey, said he had been mobilized against his will. He recounted escaping twice from a training center after realizing he was destined for an assault unit with little chance of survival. Timofey also criticized the lack of proper instruction, saying he was handed a weapon, fired a single shot toward a target and was then marked as «trained», with no real preparation for combat. He argued that instructors were largely preoccupied with preventing escapes from the facility, which was surrounded by three-meter concrete walls topped with barbed wire.

According to him, no one is searching for him now because authorities lack the resources to track down deserters. He described the scale of the problem by saying that «half the country is on the run», making it impossible to detain everyone.

Al Jazeera reports that the desertion crisis is deepening an already severe manpower shortage as Ukraine continues to lose territory.

Ukrainian authorities have responded by classifying information related to mass desertion. The monthly statistics released by the Prosecutor General’s Office no longer list military criminal offenses. Officials say the change is intended to protect national security, prevent misuse of the data against Ukraine, maintain confidence in the defense forces during wartime and counter information-psychological operations.