Russia dealing with thousands of defectors in the war in Ukraine. Soldiers from the Southern Military District deployed by Moscow in the war that began more than 2 years ago are abandoning their posts in growing numbers. This was reported by Ukrainian military intelligence (HUR), specifying that over 18,000 soldiers from the Moscow unit have deserted. The data is not independently verifiable. Neither Ukraine nor Russia, moreover, provide clear figures in relation to the consequences of the conflict on their respective sides. The reason for the desertions, according to Kiev, is to be found in the low morale of the troops, a recurring problem for the Russian armed forces fighting in Ukraine.
Among the soldiers who flee, around 10,000 are mobilized conscripts and 2,000 are contract soldiers, the military intelligence agency added. The British Ministry of Defence, which monitors the operations daily, highlighted in early April that Russian troops in Ukraine are mainly made up of contract soldiers and reservists mobilized at the end of 2022, but conscripts are often forced to sign contracts.
In Russia’s 58th Combined Arms Army, the desertion rate is around 2,500 soldiers, according to the agency’s statement. Kiev actively encouraged troops of the Russian invading army to defect or even switch to the Ukrainian side. Ukraine’s military intelligence service launched a hotline in September 2022 to help Russian soldiers willing to surrender.
The desertions, assuming that the figures released by Kiev have any basis, do not greatly affect the operation of the Russian military machine. Moscow, on the other hand, has a decidedly larger ‘human reservoir’ than that of Ukraine, which recently passed a new law to mobilize more soldiers and is also gradually turning the spotlight on adult males who have left the country and live in other European countries.
There is no doubt, official figures or not, that Russia is paying a very heavy price in terms of losses. Military operations, especially along the eastern front, proceed in continuous waves: Ukrainian troops face repeated assaults, according to a ‘meat grinder’ strategy which now appears to be a consolidated practice.
According to figures released by Ukraine, Moscow has lost 467,470 soldiers since the start of the war: almost half a million men. According to the report of the Kiev General Staff, Russia also lost 7,285 tanks, 14,007 armored combat vehicles, 16,109 fuel vehicles and tanks, 11,985 artillery systems, 1,051 multiple launch rocket systems, 778 air defense systems, 348 planes, 325 helicopters, 9,528 drones, 26 boats and a submarine.
