As of the end of April 2024, the number of deserters from the southern military district of the occupying Russian army reached 18,000 people.
RBC-Ukraine reported with reference to the publication of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine in Telegram.
According to intelligence data, the lion’s share – about 12,000 fugitives – belong to the 8th combined army, with which the enemy constantly engages in hostilities, in the east of Ukraine. Approximately 10,000 of them were drafted by Moscow through mobilization. The remaining 2,000 are contract workers.
In the 58th combined army, which is also part of the southern district army of the aggressor state, the desertion rate is about 2,500 people, the report says.
Desertion in the Russian army
Let us remember, according to British intelligence, that the desertion rate in the Russian army has become a record since the beginning of the war. In March 2024, Russian military courts charged a record 684 people with desertion. The total number of cases since the partial mobilization in September 2022 amounted to 7,400 and the largest number of such cases was recorded in the Moscow region – 496.
According to the British Ministry of Defence, 450,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded since the beginning of the war in Ukraine.
