A mobilised Russian soldier is undergoing training in the Moscow region, 13 December 2022. Photo: Yuri Kochetkov / EPA-EFE
Over 1,000 Russian soldiers have deserted a division based in the country’s southern Volgograd region and currently deployed in Ukraine since the start of the full-scale war, independent news outlet IStories revealed on Tuesday.
IStories cited a document that the command of the 20th Guards Motor Rifle Division, a formation within the Russian Ground Forces, sent to Russian regional authorities in the spring of 2024.
The document lists a total of 858 professional soldiers, 150 soldiers drafted during the mass mobilisation effort in September 2022, and two conscripts, all of whom have abandoned their unit, bringing the total number to have abandoned the division since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine to 1,010.
While the Russian authorities do not officially disclose the number of soldiers who have deserted the frontlines or abandoned their unit, this document suggests that the real scale of desertions among Russian soldiers could be very high, IStories wrote. “Over 1,000 men have abandoned just one division, while there are at least two dozen divisions involved in the war against Ukraine,” the outlet said.
The 20th Guards Motor Rifle Division was deployed to Ukraine’s southern Kherson region in the first days of the war, IStories reported, citing a soldier who said many servicemen had gone AWOL in the early days of the war when they realised it would last “longer than two weeks”, as their commanding officers initially promised.
In the first six months of the invasion, professional soldiers could terminate their contract with the Russian Defence Ministry, but were often coerced or threatened into continuing their service, IStories said. All contracts signed with the Russian Defence Ministry since September 2022 have been open-ended.
