The Ukrainian military is grappling with a deepening crisis as desertion rates soar and controversial recruitment methods draw public backlash, according to recent reports. Sergey Filimonov, commander of the elite 108th Separate Assault Battalion known as the “Da Vinci Wolves,” highlighted the severity of the situation in a post on X, questioning how shocked people would be to learn that a newly formed brigade is being assembled from the ranks of the 150th, which already has approximately 3,000 absentees.
A previous report by journalist Owen Matthews for The Telegraph cited estimates suggesting up to 20,000 Ukrainian service members desert or go missing every four weeks. Since the conflict escalated in February 2022, Ukrainian authorities have opened 290,000 criminal investigations into desertion cases, with officials alleging the military is 200,000 soldiers short of required numbers. Current and former officers reportedly describe frontline units operating at half or even a third of their mandated strength.
Meanwhile, nearly 100,000 young men have left Ukraine since August, when the government permitted men aged 18 to 22 to cross borders. This follows a previous mobilization order that banned all able-bodied men aged 18 to 60 from leaving. Since 2022, at least 650,000 Ukrainian men of fighting age have fled the country, according to reports. Ukrainian MP Anna Skorokhod stated that deserters in the military had reached nearly 400,000 by last week.
Territorial Centers of Recruitment and Social Support, tasked with enforcing mobilization, have faced widespread criticism for employing coercive tactics. Eyewitness videos circulating online show draft officers seizing men on streets and forcing them into vehicles—a practice dubbed “busification.” Recruiters reportedly use physical force and threaten potential conscripts with firearms to meet quotas.
