Ukraine

French Army Official Confirms Report on Ukrainian Desertions

Published JAN 7 2025

Story

Above: Ukrainian soldiers take part in military exercises at a military training compound at an undisclosed location in Poland, on April 4, 2024. Image credit: Wojtek Radwanski/AFP/Contributor via Getty Images

The Facts

A French military official confirmed to AFP this week that dozens of Ukrainian soldiers deserted while undergoing training in the western European country.
France 24
The confirmation followed a report by Ukrainian journalist Yurii Butusov who last week highlighted a desertion crisis in Ukraine's newly formed 155th Mechanized Brigade. According to Butusov, of the brigade's roughly 5.8K soldiers, 1.7K went AWOL before seeing any action.
The Kyiv Independent
Censor
Of those, 50 went missing during training exercises in France, Butusov reported.
France 24
A day later, a spokeswoman for Ukraine's State Bureau of Investigations said it was probing the findings of the report, but did not confirm its validity. "The investigation is ongoing. It's too early to talk about any preliminary results," the spokeswoman said.
Interfax News
Since then, the unnamed French military official told AFP, "There have been a certain number of desertions, but they remain very marginal given the volume of people who have undergone training."
France 24
Nearly three years into Ukraine's war with Russia, a number of reports have previously highlighted desertion issues within Ukraine's ranks. In November, citing figures from Ukraine's Prosecutor General, the Associated Press reported that over 100K soldiers have been charged under desertion laws since the beginning of the war, with nearly half of those coming in the last year.
ap
Al Jazeera

Sources Split

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The Spin

Pro-Ukraine narrative

These are unwelcome developments caused by a number of issues facing the new brigade, including staffing and training. However, all the root causes are being examined and steps to resolve the issues are being put in place.

The Kyiv Independent

Establishment-critical narrative

Following nearly three years of war, Ukraine's desertion problem is unsurprising. Its troops are understaffed and under-equipped, facing a much larger enemy. As the war goes on, the problem will only deteriorate.