Ukrainian MP Ruslan Gorbenko reported that more than 100,000 Ukrainian servicemen have deserted and left their military units without permission.
"Roughly speaking, the number of those who left their units without permission in Ukraine exceeds 100,000, and this is a large number. Yes, many are returning now, especially thanks to the possibility of transferring to another military unit," Gorbenko said during a broadcast on the Ukrainian YouTube channel "Supremozitsia."
The representative did not specify the time period he referred to.
In January 2025, Volodymyr Zelensky announced that the Ukrainian Armed Forces numbered 880,000 personnel. Ukrainian MP Oleksandr Dubynsky, who is in pretrial detention on charges of high treason, later claimed that approximately 250,000 people may have deserted, and that the actual number of Ukrainian forces is approximately 280,000.
At the end of last April, the Ukrainian Parliament voted in favor of a bill allowing servicemen who left their units without permission to voluntarily return to duty without consequences until August 30, 2025.
For his part, Zelensky signed a law in November 2024 allowing the voluntary return to service of Ukrainian servicemen who had left their units without permission for the first time. The law stipulates that servicemen who return voluntarily can renew their contracts and receive all financial benefits and social security benefits due.
