Russia Forcibly Sending Military Deserters to Front Line: Reports

Russia is forcibly sending its military deserters to the front line in Ukraine, according to an investigation.

Verstka, an independent Russian news outlet that was founded shortly after Ukraine war began, said in an investigation published on Monday that hundreds of Russians who refuse to fight in Ukraine are being forcibly deployed to the battlefield. Some are held at gunpoint and are physically abused or detained if they resist.

Newsweek has contacted Russia's Defense Ministry for comment by email.

Desertion has been an issue for Russia's military throughout President Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In November 2022, the British Defense Ministry said Kremlin generals may have sanctioned the use of weapons against deserters, "including possibly authorizing shooting to kill such defaulters after a warning had been given."

Desertion from Moscow's army carries a 10-year prison sentence. In February, a Russian anti-war project named Get Lost, which was created to help Russia's men evade or escape conscription in Ukraine, said cases of desertion from the military increased tenfold this year.

Verstka's investigation said that Russian authorities may be pivoting away from prosecuting military deserters and canceling their trials to redeploy them to the front lines in Ukraine, in an attempt to boost the army's power in the war.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a U.S.-based independent think tank, commented on the findings in its latest analysis of the conflict in Ukraine on Monday.

"A Russian lawyer, who specializes in cases related to service members refusing to fight, reportedly stated that the Russian [Ministry of Defense] may be stopping criminal cases to send such service members to the front due to a shortage of forces needed to fight in northern Kharkiv Oblast," the ISW said.

The think tank said it previously assessed that Russian forces likely launched its offensive operation in the Kharkiv region on May 10 when its Northern Grouping of Forces faced a personnel shortage.

The ISW added that it assessed Russia "may be sending service members awaiting their trials to the front in Kharkiv Oblast to strengthen the limited forces in the area."

Verstka found that at least 170 men who deserted the Russian military were deprived of the right to trial and forcibly sent to Ukraine.

"On what basis these orders were issued, no one knows. People don't want to fight, they have already refused once and are ready to wind up behind bars for it. And they just cancel the criminal offense - and that's it, let's go," a family member of a military deserter told the outlet.

Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR) said in April that more than 18,000 Russian servicemen of the Southern Military District had fled their posts since the war began. Around 12,000 of them belonged to the 8th Guards Combined Arms Army, a unit "which the enemy constantly engages in hostilities in the east of Ukraine," it said on Telegram.

Some 2,500 troops have deserted the Russian 58th Guards Combined Arms Army, the HUR added. Newsweek has yet to verify these figures.

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