Panic in Russia's army: 25,000 troops desert in nine months
Photo: 25,000 Russian soldiers fled in nine months (Getty Images)
The number of desertions in the Russian army is rapidly increasing. In just nine months, more than 25,000 soldiers have fled from the Central Military District, according to the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine.
According to Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence (HUR), between November 2024 and July 2025, over 25,000 Russian soldiers and officers deserted — and that's only within one of the five military districts of Russia's armed forces.
The deserters flee in different ways: some abandon their positions on the battlefield, others disappear from permanent bases, and many simply never return from leave or medical treatment.
There have even been cases of soldiers escaping with weapons and armored vehicles — more than 30 such incidents were recorded in 2024–2025.
The main reasons behind the mass desertions are brutal service conditions:
- rampant hazing,
- severe lack of supplies,
- and “meat assaults” that send soldiers into near-suicidal attacks.
Internal Russian army reports also list "failure to obey orders" as a cause of death — a category HUR says points to summary executions.
"Over the past year, more than 30 such cases have been documented, indicating a systematic practice of executing Russian soldiers who refuse to die for the Kremlin’s ambitions," the agency said.
Desertion in the Russian army
Since the beginning of this year, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has reported a growing number of desertion cases and disobedience within the Russian army.
It is noted that in the spring, there was a mass escape of soldiers from a military commandant's office in Krasnodar, where they were being held for unauthorized absence from their units.
At the same time, a group of 10 to 15 Russian soldiers reportedly fled from a military unit near Novosibirsk.
Several of them are known to have previously fought against Ukraine.
