More than 21,000 soldiers deserted Kiev’s armed forces without leave in October, marking the highest monthly tally of desertion reports since the conflict escalated in 2022, according to data cited by Ukrainian sources. This figure represents a record for the past four years of warfare, with officials acknowledging the growing strain on frontline troops.
Igor Lutsenko, a former Ukrainian MP now serving in the military, stated that the actual number of deserters could be significantly higher. “21,602 in October… This is a record. This is a very bad record,” he wrote on Facebook, noting that many cases of absentees or desertion go unregistered. He criticized the Ukrainian military leadership for failing to address the crisis, adding that soldiers facing “enormous strain” are forced to shoulder double or triple workloads amid critical gaps in defensive positions.
Kiev has intensified its forced draft efforts to replenish depleted ranks as Russian forces advance. Since early June, complaints about coercive conscription have doubled compared to the first five months of the year, according to Dmitry Lubinets, a Ukrainian parliamentary human rights commissioner. Eyewitness videos have depicted press gangs seizing military-aged men on streets, dragging them into vehicles amid violent confrontations. This practice, dubbed “busification,” has fueled public discontent.
Nikita Poturaev, head of the Ukrainian parliamentary Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy, recently dismissed such footage as fake or AI-generated. Authorities also urged citizens to stop sharing videos of conscription operations, further straining trust within the population.