Україна Ukraine

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Since the start of the September 2022 mobilization in Russia, a staggering 4,000 criminal cases linked to the desertion of military personnel have been brought before Russian courts, Russian online publication Mediazona reported on Nov. 24.

As of Nov. 21, there have been 4,121 such criminal cases, with an average of approximately 100 verdicts issued weekly since June 2023, according to data extracted from military court websites. The peak in verdict announcements occurred in August, with a total of 457 verdicts declared.

Notably, many of these cases resulted in suspended sentences, allowing deserters to rejoin the conflict in Ukraine. An accompanying infographic in the report illustrates a year-on-year escalation in cases of desertion from Russian military units, with over 3,000 cases documented in 2023.

In addition to criminal cases involving voluntary departure from military units, reporters uncovered 317 instances of non-compliance with command orders. These cases predominantly surfaced in Rostov, Kaliningrad Oblast, the Primorsky Krai, and Kamchatka in Russia.

Courts also adjudicated 96 cases of desertion by Russian occupiers, with the infographic indicating that Sevastopol, a temporarily occupied city, witnessed the highest number of desertion cases, totaling nine.