Paul Goble
Staunton, Sept. 22 – More than 50,000 soldiers have deserted from the Russia military since the start of Putin’s expanded war in Ukraine in February 2022, according to Mariana Katasrova, the UN’s special rapporteur on the status of human rights in the Russian Federation, roughly one in ten of the number Moscow has sent to fight there.
That figure casts doubt on Kremlin claims regarding popular and military support for Putin’s policies and puts additional pressure on Moscow to replace those who have deserted (ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/hrbodies/hrcouncil/sessions-regular/session60/advance-version/a-hrc-60-59-aev.pdf and novayagazeta.eu/articles/2025/09/22/spetsdokladchik-oon-po-rossii-okolo-10-rossiian-uchastvuiushchikh-v-voine-s-ukrainy-dezertirovali-s-fronta-news).
The Russian government and its supporters can be counted on to dispute these findings, but they are likely to be close to the truth given that there is now an entire literature in the independent Russian media about desertions and even how soldiers can leave the ranks in this way. (For a discussion of that, see zona.media/article/2025/09/17/run.)
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