"In September alone, 20,000 cases of unauthorized absence from duty (essentially desertion) were officially registered. Since the beginning of this year, about 160,000 cases have occurred. However, the actual situation is much worse."

— Said the commander of a Ukrainian attack drone company.

Meanwhile, a well-known Ukrainian media channel cited information from the Ukrainian General Staff, stating that the number of soldiers who have actually left their combat positions may have reached 500,000.

According to Mariana Bezuglaya, a member of the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada, the number of deserters has reached 250,000. She did not specify the time period for this figure, but even so, the number is shocking.

Comparing this — before the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the total number of personnel in the Ukrainian Armed Forces was only 246,000.

Bezuglaya explained that the reasons for the large-scale departure of soldiers are as follows: first, the chaos on the front lines, with commanders often issuing strange orders; second, serious bullying of soldiers, with officers treating them as nothing; third, inadequate training, with newly mobilized conscripts not receiving the psychological and skill training they should have received.

In this context, the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada urgently passed a bill to restore criminal punishment for unauthorized absence from duty. According to the new law, even if the soldier returns voluntarily, the punishment cannot be exempted or mitigated.

The emergence of large-scale desertions is also related to the one-sided battlefield situation on the Russia-Ukraine front. On October 7, Putin held a meeting with senior military officials on his 73rd birthday, during which he reported that the Russian forces had completely taken strategic initiative, pushing back the Ukrainian forces along the entire line. Since the beginning of this year, the Russian forces have "liberated" approximately 5,000 square kilometers of territory and 212 settlements.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7560228406458122802/

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