Russia is facing a growing desertion problem

It’s been nearly two years since Vladimir Putin ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and Moscow is facing several major problems. Chief among them might be the increase in soldiers deserting the Russian Armed Forces. 

On December 5th, The Moscow Times published a report on Russia’s increasing losses due to desertion and noted that there has been a huge spike in requests from soldiers hoping to flee according to the Idite Lesom project. 

The Idite Lesom project is a Georgia-based group that helps Russian soldiers find ways to desert their units and it has reportedly seen a 89% increase in the number of troops hoping the group could help them flee the war in Ukraine. 

Between June and August, the Idite Lesom project had 305 requests for help from those in the Russian army but the total jumped to 577 requests from September to November, which begs the question: why are men fleeing now? 

One reason could be renewed Russian offensives in areas like Avdiivka that have seen thousands of casualties since operations began in October. However, soldiers who were mobilized in September 2022 may have had enough. 

"A year has passed since the beginning of mobilization. If some people still had hopes that they could go home after a certain period of service, there are no such illusions now,” explained Sergei Krivenko told the Moscow Times. 

Krivenko is the director of the human rights group ‘Grazhdanin. Armiya. Pravo.,’ which means ‘Citizen. Army. Rights.’ and added: “Servicemen see that there is no rotation… even seriously wounded men are sent back to the front after being hospitalized.”

However, Russia’s desertion problem isn’t a new one and there have been a number of reports on the dire situation. Some 17,000 Russian soldiers had deserted Moscow according to the US Army Special Operations Command.

"Messaging has played a huge role just in the tactical and operational sense,” explained Lieutenant General Jonathan Braga while speaking at the US Army’s annual conference in October according to Business Insider’s reporting. 

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By U.S. Army

"We've supported our Ukrainian partners there," Lt. Gen. Braga said. “You've had 17,000 Russians desert… That's 17,000 soldiers you didn't have to blow up on the battlefield or destroy,” Braga added, noting it had weakened Russia’s defense. 

Unfortunately, it isn’t easy for those who want to desert to do so easily. In July, Moscow passed a new law that allowed officials to seize the passports of those who were conscripted into military service according to Ukrainska Pravda. 

If a conscript refused to hand over their passport to authorities then the document would be invalidated, which would leave those who wanted to flee to leave Russia legally. But that isn’t the only problem deserters are looking to flee the war. 

“There are minefields ahead. And behind you... Military police. Some hid with local residents, but usually, they drank alcohol [together] and these same locals turned them into the military police,” one deserter told The Moscow Times. 

Sergei Krivenko told The Moscow Times that very few soldiers try to flee the war since the chances of getting caught are high. Punishment for those who are caught has also been quite brutal, and several deserts have been tried in court. 

In July, a report from the independent Russian media outlet Meduza noted that 2,076 criminal cases had been brought against deserters in the first half of 2023. Some deserters have been hit with sentences for over a decade. 

For example, Maxim Kochetkov was charged with desertion in July 2023 according to a separate report from the Moscow Times, and in September, Kochetkov was handed a sentence of 13 years in a maximum security penal colony.

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By Avtoloer - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0

However, the possibility of harsh punishments if caught hasn’t stopped those who want to flee the war from trying. With the assistance of international organizations and Kyiv’s allies, soldiers are getting out and likely saving their lives.