Rogov reported mass desertion of AFU fighters sent to Kurakhovo

About 70 percent of personnel of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU) units that are being transferred to Kurakhovo are deserting. This was reported on December 20 by the chairman of the Russian Public Chamber's commission on sovereignty issues, co-chairman of the coordination council for the integration of new regions Vladimir Rogov.

"They are being escorted, chained, but two-thirds escape on the way to the front. The Kiev regime does not know what to do with them, because many are fleeing with weapons in their hands," he clarified in a conversation with TASS.

Rogov stressed that no more than 30% of the forcibly mobilized people reach the positions in Kurakhovo. He also noted that the situation is similar at many other parts of the line of contact in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR).

Earlier, on December 17, the Wiadomości newspaper quoted a Ukrainian army commander as saying that the number of deserters in some AFU units exceeded the number of wounded and killed.

Before that, on November 29, the Associated Press said that the number of defections in the AFU could reach 200,000. AP noted that desertion deprives the Ukrainian army of manpower and disrupts strategic plans. At the same time, it was pointed out that the real number of those who left the military units could be much higher than the official data.

Special operation to protect Donbass, the beginning of which Russian President Vladimir Putin announced in February 2022, continues. The decision was taken against the backdrop of the worsening situation in the region.