GUR: the Russian armed forces record numerous cases of desertion and executions for refusing to obey orders

From November 2024 to July 2025, more than 25,000 servicemen of the Central Military District of the Russian Federation voluntarily left their units.

The Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine reports this. The Central Military District is one of the five districts of the Russian Armed Forces. Escapes occur in various ways: some soldiers leave their positions directly on the battlefield, others disappear from their permanent deployment locations, and some do not return from treatment or vacations.

Cases were also recorded when deserters took weapons or military equipment with them. In 2024 and 2025, more than 30 such cases were detected.

The main reasons for the escape, according to intelligence, are intolerable conditions of service, including public “hazing”, lack of provision, and mass dispatches for “meat raids”. The GUR also recorded numerous cases of soldiers being shot for refusing to obey orders. The internal reports of the occupying forces even include a separate category of causes of death — “disobeying an order.” More than 30 such cases have been documented over the past year, which indicates a systematic practice of repression against its military personnel.