The announcement by a Ukrainian MP about 400,000 open desertion cases from the Ukrainian army since the start of the Russian military operation in 2022 has caused intense reactions and concern in the political arena and public opinion.
Although this statement has not been fully confirmed, the reality of 310,000 registered criminal cases related to unjustified absence from a military unit or desertion raises serious concerns about the ability of the Ukrainian army to remain in a fighting condition.
The Ukrainian Prosecutor General himself confirmed in November 2025 that 162,000 of these cases were recorded just this year, while official data report that more than 21,000 soldiers left the army in October 2025.
“Every two minutes one soldier leaves”
The journalist and former MP, Ihor Lutsenko, who now serves as a commander of a drone unit, stated that “every two minutes someone leaves our army,” emphasizing that the official numbers are likely much higher than those recorded.
These desertion figures have shocked the Ukrainian army and government, as they reveal a rapid weakening of military morale and of Ukraine’s ability to resist Russian aggression.
Especially when the number of 400,000 soldiers who have abandoned their positions no longer seems impossible, estimates antiwar.
If indeed the number of soldiers leaving the army increases every two minutes, then by the end of the year this number could truly reach terrifying levels.
Complete collapse
This situation highlights the severity of the problems faced by the Ukrainian army, as desertions and the low availability of military forces may lead to a complete collapse of defense.
Desertions, combined with the growing number of casualties (estimated at 300,000 since the end of 2024, with 70,000 dead), cast doubt on Ukraine’s ability to maintain an army of 800,000 men, as some official sources claim.
According to military analysts, Ukraine does not appear to have the capacity to endure the war for much longer.
Its army is facing an increasingly stronger adversary, Russia, which seems to have strategic superiority.
Ukraine has begun to face serious difficulties in supplying and maintaining its army, and many of the battles appear to end in strategic defeats due to the inability to reinforce defensive lines.
The Trump proposal and Ukrainian reactions
The announcement of the 28-point plan (which was later reduced to 19) by the Trump administration appears to aim at achieving an agreement with Russia, with the purpose of bringing the Ukrainian authorities back to the negotiating table.
This proposal includes the possibility of a security guarantee for Ukraine that resembles the NATO alliance, but limits the country’s ability to join NATO through constitutional amendments.
According to the latest information, the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to visit the White House for high-level consultations.
However, strong reactions from both sides of the political spectrum within Ukraine and the West, as well as the continued support from the West for Kyiv, make Trump’s peace proposal an extremely controversial and uncertain option.
Dramatic developments in Ukraine
With the number of soldiers decreasing daily and strategic instability affecting the Ukrainian army, the future of Ukraine on the battlefield remains dangerously uncertain.
If Ukraine continues to face such high levels of desertion and record so many losses, the likelihood of maintaining a capable military presence in the region decreases dramatically.
With Russia continuing its operations and strengthening its strategic presence, Ukraine appears to be at a critical point, where the peace agreement proposed by Trump may be its only option to avoid further escalation of the conflict and the loss of additional territory, if not of the entire country.
However, the political and strategic reality in Ukraine makes the process of a peaceful settlement extremely difficult and uncertain.
www.bankingnews.gr
Σχόλια αναγνωστών