Mass Desertion, Draft Revolt Cripples Ukrainian Army
Gen. Sergey Rudskoy, head of operations at the Russian General Staff, told the Russian armed forces' official newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda that Russian military estimates place Ukrainian casualties at over 520,000 in 2025 alone — and 1.5 million since hostilities intensified in 2022.
"Presently, the Kiev regime has largely lost the ability to replenish its units through obligatory mobilization. The number of recruitments per month has dropped by about two times," Rudskoy said. "A trend is forming for the decrease of the Ukrainian army's strength."
The assessment aligns with admissions from within Kyiv's own government. During nomination hearings last month, Ukrainian Defense Minister Mikhail Fedorov disclosed to lawmakers that two million potential recruits had been placed on wanted lists for draft evasion, while 200,000 soldiers had abandoned their posts. Earlier this month, human rights ombudsman Dmitry Lubinets flagged a steep surge in complaints against mobilization enforcers, characterizing the situation as a "systemic crisis."
Footage of violent clashes between conscription units and civilians continues to surface almost daily across Ukrainian media outlets, even as officials maintain that much of the material is staged or fabricated.
Beyond manpower, Rudskoy outlined how rapidly evolving battlefield technology is reshaping military doctrine. He noted that AI-assisted decision-making and robotic systems have become indispensable in modern combat. The mass deployment of drones in the conflict, he argued, has elevated them to a destructive level comparable to conventional artillery — while also fundamentally redrawing frontline boundaries, producing what he described as a "zone of blanket kinetic action" reaching up to 15 kilometers beyond friendly positions.
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