At least 49,000 Russian soldiers were wanted for desertion and HCP – media

During the war in Ukraine, at least 49,000 Russian servicemen were wanted on suspicion of desertion or unauthorized part (HSC). This is stated in the material of the publication “Important History”.

Journalists studied two probable deserters in the Russian army. One of them in December 2024 published a telegram-channel “Mobilization of the DNR”. The publication argued that the PVO PVO Base (Persons who left part in the Southern Military District) contained the names of more than 26 thousand people.

The second list of probable deserters was published by the project of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine “I want to live”. It contains 36,000 people who are claimed that criminal cases of desertion and HSCs have been initiated in Russia. The authors stated that they received a document from sources in the command of one of the military districts of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

Journalists combined deserter data into one table, pre -clearing them from doubles and checking information on other sources.

According to “Important History”, early records to the SOC PVO base were made in November-December 2022, the latter-at the end of June 2024. What exact period covers the base “I want to live” is unknown.

“Important History” write that not all the military who got into the fused bases really evaded the service, which is confirmed by public cases and data of the sources themselves. Yes, nearly 300 people were recognized as dead, captured or missing.

From the sources it follows that the main reasons for the announcement in the search – leaving positions on the front, escape from the territory of the military unit and refusal to return to the service after treatment.

The project about deserters “Farewell, Weapons” stated that the roll lists do not reflect the real scale of desertion.

“Based on these bases, we can say that throughout the war, the number of deserters and people who went to the HSC is greater than 50 thousand people,” said Alexei Alshansky analyst Alexei Alshansky. He explained that the lists have passes in the data, and they do not cover the last year of the war.

In January 2025, the mediazon was written that at least 2850 soldiers from the occupied units of Donetsk and Luhansk regions were made by the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs on the Federal wanted list on the article on the unauthorized leaving of the part.