Ukraine War Leads to At Least 200,000 Country Nationals Becoming Deserters
- TF1 team gathers testimonies.
If Andri is caught, he faces 15 years in prison for deserting the Ukrainian army. So he limits his movements to avoid increasing checks by the army or police. This decision was made in March 2025. A few days after being enlisted, he escapes from a military camp by slipping under barbed wire. Today, he has agreed to talk to TF1’s special envoys in a neutral location. “I have lost all my rights. For example, I am really afraid of getting sick. Going to the doctor is risky. Moving around the city is dangerous,”
he testifies in the report visible at the top of this article.
With the help of accomplices in a car, I fled to the nearest city.
With the help of accomplices in a car, I fled to the nearest city.
An ex-soldier who fled the front line
When Andri must take the road, he relies on a messaging system fed by hundreds of other deserters. “To avoid getting caught, I monitor the group we formed. Many people like me provide real-time information on the geolocation of military police,”
he says. Suddenly, a police car appears, forcing him to rush into a cafe. “I don’t want to be cannon fodder and end up on the front line digging trenches and losing my life that way,”
he admits. There are at least 200,000 deserters in the country. Nearly 30,000 of them have since rejoined the army. The rest are ready to do anything to avoid this scenario.
TF1 journalists meet a former soldier who fled the front line after eight months of combat. To do this, they drive for hours to reach the western part of the country. The man describes being traumatized by the war and speaks of a slaughter. He recounts his plan to leave the fighting. “I asked my commander for permission to go trim my beard, and thanks to accomplices in a car, I fled to the nearest city. Since I was wearing my military clothes, there was no reason to believe I was a deserter,”
he confides.
The Ukrainian army often reminds that Russian soldiers are ill-prepared, treated like animals. This deserter, however, says he observed something entirely different during eight months. “The Russians use intelligent tactics. They are well organized. They change their plans based on weather, time of day, and seasons. All of this is well-prepared. Behind, there are military leaders making decisions. And they are rather pertinent,”
he asserts.
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After four years of war, how to prevent hemorrhaging in the ranks of the Ukrainian army? To find out, head to the outskirts of Kiev. “Recruiting is obviously the number one challenge for the Ukrainian army. Before the war, this army had 250,000 personnel. Today, it’s 800,000. And among those joining the Ukrainian army, there are more and more women,”
details François-Xavier Ménage, TF1’s special envoy. 70,000 women have joined the army since the conflict began. They are welcomed in a training center where civilians who want to enlist go. Two out of the five newcomers are women.
At 21, Darina dreamed of being an architect before the war. Everything changed when the person closest to her decided to join the army. “My brother is a soldier. He told me I should also enlist. And here I am. Because our country needs our help,”
she assures. For now, to preserve Ukrainian youth, those under 25 are not required to join the army. But like Darina, more and more are volunteering.
