The Verkhovna Rada said about desertion of some AFU soldiers training abroad

Parts of those mobilized to the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) desert while studying abroad, Verkhovna Rada MP Ruslan Horbenko said on 24 December.

"There are cases when they run away in general while studying abroad. This is criminal liability, [criminal] cases are opened," the MP said, whose comment is quoted in the Telegram channel of the Strana.ua publication.

According to Gorbenko, the highest percentage of deserters is recorded among those mobilized to new brigades of the Ukrainian troops.

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Earlier, on 17 December, the Ukrainian news and analysis website Wiadomości reported that the number of deserters in some units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces exceeded the number of wounded and killed. In a conversation with the publication, one of the AFU commanders described the situation as critical due to a shortage of men.

Before that, on December 1, the Financial Times newspaper wrote that in 2024 the number of desertions in the ranks of the AFU exceeded the number for the previous two years. According to the Associated Press agency, we are talking about about 200,000 Ukrainian military personnel who have left their places of service.

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