Tens of thousands of servicemen of the occupying army are on the lists of deserters - Russian media

The number of deserters may exceed 50,000 people during the entire period of the full-scale war of the Russian Federation in Ukraine, UNN reports with reference to the istories publication.

Details

At least 49,000 Russian servicemen have been put on the wanted list on suspicion of desertion. According to the publication "Important Stories", there are several public leaks regarding persons who have voluntarily left military units of the Russian Armed Forces. Journalists combined this data, checking the information from other sources.

The information about deserters related to publics such as "mobilization of the DNR" (file "SOCH YuVO 2024 base" of the Southern Military District, 26 thousand people). The editors of Istories compared this data with the list of deserters of the 20th Motorized Rifle Division, the authenticity of which the publication had previously confirmed. As indicated, 652 and 1010 names in this list are also present in the "SOCH YuVO" database.

Another list of probable deserters was published by the project of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine "I want to live".

It concerned 36,000 people against whom, as claimed, criminal cases of desertion and unauthorized abandonment have been initiated in Russia.

Regarding the "I Want to Live" database - the earliest cases of desertion that are in the leak and which have already been reported publicly occurred in September 2022. The latest SOCH cases from the leak date back to June 2024. The editors of "Important Stories" confirm that they checked them.

An interesting point important for analysis is that not all military personnel who were included in the leaked databases actually evaded service. This is confirmed by public cases and data from the leaks themselves, the publication says. A relevant example in this context:

Almost 300 people were recognized as dead, captured, or missing.

The status of "two hundredths" (killed) in the database includes several hundred people, and the death of some of them can be confirmed by public obituaries. At the same time, the data contains Russians whose deaths were not reported earlier.

But in general, as it follows from the leaks, the main reasons for being put on the wanted list are as follows:

• leaving positions at the front;
• escape from the territory of the military unit of the occupying army;
• refusal to return to service after treatment.

In some cases, the compilers of the databases indicate additional details:

• "mother does not let go, because she believes that he has not been cured";
• "did not arrive from treatment";
• did not provide documents in a timely manner to be excluded from the lists of the unit;
• Did not arrive from treatment in the recuperating regiment;
• broke his leg in the morning before leaving by echelon;
• hospitalized, but did not arrive from treatment

Addition

These nominal lists of deserters from the Russian Armed Forces do not reflect the real scale of the facts of similar practice. This was noted in the "Goodbye, Weapon" project.

Based on these databases, we can say that during the entire war, the number of deserters and people who went to "SOCH" is more than 50,000 people. These lists also do not allow us to draw a conclusion about the number of deserters in Russia at the moment

He claims that there are gaps in the data in these lists, and they also do not cover the last year of the war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine.

Let us remind you

In occupied Crimea, the number of deserters is increasing among contract soldiers of Russian military units.

Russian soldiers are facing problems with supplies, lack of medical care and salary delays.