Ukraine sees record 110,000+ AWOL cases in 2025, highest since 2022
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Over 110,000 Ukrainian military desertion cases were recorded in 2025, surpassing prior years.
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Recruits in Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade practice military skills on a training ground in a sunflower field in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, Monday, Aug. 25, 2025 (AP)
More than 110,000 cases of unauthorized abandonment of a military unit were registered in the Ukrainian armed forces in the first seven months of 2025, a number that exceeds the total from the previous three years since the conflict began, according to the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine, as reported by the Ukrainska Pravda news portal.
Unauthorized abandonment of a military unit was registered in 6,988 cases in 2022 and 18,628 cases in 2023, while 110,511 such cases have already been registered in just the first seven months of 2025, according to the Tuesday report. The report added that the total number of AWOL (absent without official leave) cases from 2022 to 2025 is 202,997.
Separate records are reportedly kept under the article "Desertion", under which a total of 50,058 criminal proceedings were registered from 2022 to July 2025.
According to the Hromadske broadcaster, at least 25 mobilized soldiers have died within the walls of Ukrainian military registration and enlistment offices since 2022, while adding that law enforcement officials have acknowledged the fact of a violent death in only two of those cases.
This comes as prospects of a ceasefire in Ukraine remain uncertain, and threats of escalating economic warfare against Russia continue, most recently by US President Donald Trump.
Trump rules out world war, hints at sanctions against Russia
On August 26, US President Donald Trump stated that the war in Ukraine will not escalate into a world war but warned that Russia could face severe economic consequences if a peace deal is not reached.
"I'd like it [Ukraine conflict] to stop. I want to get it to stop. And it will not be a world war, but it will be an economic war, and an economic war is going to be bad, and it's going to be bad for Russia. And I don't want that now," the US president announced during a cabinet meeting in Washington.
He emphasized that Washington would not pursue a military confrontation but was prepared to use economic sanctions against Moscow, stating, "We have economic sanctions," and adding, "I am talking about economics because we're not going to get into a world war."
Trump added that he had "something very serious" in mind when it comes to the economic measures he plans to impose on Russia should negotiations fail.
