Russian courts assessed 684 unauthorized absences in March, the highest monthly number recorded since the start of the war in Ukraine, independent Russian media reported.
Citing public records, independent media outlet Mediazona reported on April 12 that a daily average of 34 convictions for fleeing without authorization were carried out by military courts that month.
Mediazona reported that almost all cases were linked to men recruited as part of the Russian mobilization, which began in September 2022 and saw some 300,000 men drafted to fight in Ukraine.
The independent report was cited in a UK Ministry of Defense intelligence update Wednesday.
“Russian soldiers, including those forcibly recruited during the September 2022 partial mobilization, are required to remain in military service indefinitely, with little prospect of release,” the statement said.
Men convicted of being absent without leave were generally given suspended sentences to allow them to return to their units, some of which are on the front lines, Mediazona reported.
At least some of these AWOL cases occurred over the last year, including the unauthorized absence of a contract soldier who returned home in May 2023 and was later diagnosed with a mental disorder, according to Mediazona.
Russian courts have handled some 2,300 cases of unauthorized absence since the start of 2024, and about 7,400 cases in total since Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022, according to Mediazona.
Moscow is the region where there are the most trials of this type, with 496 cases, according to Mediazona.
The Russian Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to an after-hours request for comment from Business Insider.
The Kremlin’s partial mobilization in 2022 has been deeply unpopular, triggering an exodus of wealthy Russians and protests in Moscow.
Thousands of conscripts were sent to combat units and it was widely reported that they initially received little training and equipment. Some died during their first month of deployment.
The grueling conditions on the front line and heavy fighting in the summer of 2023 have shaken Russia’s morale, with multiple reports and rumors of infighting, desertion and malingering.
But Russia’s efforts to increase its population appear to be paying off. Its military has grown by about 15 percent since the start of the war in Ukraine, according to an April 10 estimate by U.S. Gen. Christopher Cavoli, NATO’s supreme allied commander in Europe.
This spring, Russia is expected to call up some 150,000 troops for routine, statutory military service, which typically lasts about a year. These men are not legally obligated to fight outside the country.
Meanwhile, Ukraine is also struggling to rebuild its hard-hit forces, with thousands of military-age men trying to flee the country or hide from kyiv’s military conscription.
To strengthen its numbers, the Ukrainian Parliament lowered the age of conscription for men from 27 to 25 on April 2. TuesdayThe country’s Foreign Ministry also announced it was temporarily suspending the issuance of passports to Ukrainian men of foreign service age abroad, requiring them to return home to renew their documents.
Russia has been slowly advancing into Ukrainian territory since early 2024, with Ukraine saying its troops are struggling without vital ammunition and weapons previously supplied by NATO. After months of gridlock in Congress, US aid worth around $60 billion to Ukraine was approved on Wednesday.
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