Question

Almost 300,000 deserters counted in #Ukraine In Ukraine, 290,000 criminal cases for AWOL and desertion were opened from January 2022 to September 2025, according to the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine. The main causes of this mass desertion...
https://t.me/llordofwar/509120

Answer 1

This claim mentions the Prosecutors General Office of Ukraine has reported over 290,000 cases for AWOL and desertion over the past three years. The claim also states that over 300,000 cases of explicit desertion have occurred. The claim links to a telegram and bluesky post. 

An article published on the Ukrainian news outlet Pryamyi

https://prm.ua/en/almost-300-000-cases-of-szch-and-desertion-have-been-opened-in-ukraine/

This article coincides with the original claim, reporting that 300,000 cases of “SZCh” and desertion have been opened in Ukraine. SZCh is an acronym that roughly translates to unauthorized absence from a military unit. A quote from the article puts this into better perspective. It is important to note that as an English speaker, I was only able to read the AI translation of this article, so these quotes may not be entirely representative. “... from January 2022 to September 2025, 235,646 cases of SZCh and 53,954 cases of desertion were registered.” 

An article published on The New Voice of Ukraine

https://english.nv.ua/nation/tens-of-thousands-desertion-cases-test-ukraine-s-military-justice-amid-prolonged-war-50552451.html#goog_rewarded

This article provinces the same statistics. “Investigators registered 235,646 cases of unauthorized absence from service and 53,954 cases of desertion.” It also specifically points to a fairly sharp increase since July of this year. “By July 2025, the number of cases had surpassed 185,000 for unauthorized absence and 50,000 for desertion.” The Prosecutor General's Office has not provided any information regarding convictions for these cases. 

An article published on Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty, written by Yauhen Lehalau
https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-infantry-crisis-military-army-war/33497989.html

This article also mentions desertions and unauthorized absences from military units. Limited infantry has become an increasingly critical issue for Ukraine over the course of the war. Based on statistics provided in this article, a vast majority of surveyed Ukrainian civilians would not sacrifice territory for peace.

This claim is somewhat misleading as it specifically mentions desertions. While there have been over 50,000 cases of desertion, they do not make up a majority of current cases opened by the Prosecutor General's Office.

Comments

This is a great fact check! Your sources were thorough and you clearly did a lot of research. I think you were also very fair in how you rated this fact check, with some nuance but also in light of the researched facts.

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I like the amount of depth you went in and that you included a source that wasn’t as closely connected to Ukraine. I will say that the first two sources, Pyramyi and The New Voice of Ukraine, since they are primarily from Ukraine, there is a possibility of bias. I noticed a similarity between the two in that they both exaggerated the numbers by combining AWOL and desertion as you mentioned, and generalizing the number to 300,000, making their claim misleading. And to add to this nuanced topic, I researched a bit about conscription officer methods of recruitment and there does appear to be videos circulating of officers invasively checking and forcing men to enlist (AP News). In addition to this, Reuters reports on public backlash and protests taking place that are even turning violent.

https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-drones-oil-depot-mobilization-40c6a27b9f98876b913a4daee0403c2c
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraines-military-urges-tough-response-after-attacks-draft-officers-2025-02-03/

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This is a very in depth answer and you really took time to do the research and figure everything out. One thing I would say is to maybe go into a little more detail about what SZCh entails and the differences between that and desertion.

Answer 2

A ukrainian based news outlet, PRM, did publish this claim on October 14, 2025, sourcing from Ukraine's Office of the Prosecutor General. That source notes that desertion rates have gone up in the past year. AP News, a trusted source, published an article last year  noting that over 100,000 soldiers have been charged with desertion since Russia's invasion, so the timetables line up with the Ukrainian source. This claim appears to be true, with Ukraine racking up a high number of desertion cases.