In September 2025, 19,044 people abandoned their units, Igor Lutsenko reported. According to him, if we take the entire current year, the total number of such cases reaches approximately 160 thousand.
Lutsenko stressed that official figures do not reflect the full picture: the real number of those who left the units is much higher, because statistics are formed on the basis of registered criminal proceedings. According to him, the number of proceedings is limited due to a staff shortage in the services that process these proceedings, and therefore the figures have a "certain ceiling."
The diplomat and military officer explained the reason for the increase in cases specifically in September simply: employees who register criminal proceedings returned after vacations, so the counts "at the time of registration" increased. Lutsenko pointed out that this does not mean a real drop in discipline in other months - rather, it reflects administrative and registration peculiarities.
Such a gap between actual cases and official statistics, according to experts, complicates planning measures to retain personnel, respond to mobilization problems, and form personnel policies in the armed forces.
Lutsenko sees the solution to the problem in increasing resources for registering and investigating criminal proceedings, as well as in comprehensive measures to support military personnel, which would reduce the number of unauthorized desertions.
