Russian military charged record number of soldiers with abandoning positions in 2023

The Russian military opened 5,024 cases against soldiers for abandoning their units in 2023, the independent outlet Mediazona reported on Friday.

For comparison, Russian military courts received 1,001 of these cases in 2022 and 615 in 2021.

The overwhelming majority of the cases opened in 2023 concern incidents that occurred after the start of Russia’s draft in September 2022. Soldiers convicted of abandoning their posts during mobilization could face up to five years in prison.

Additionally, this year the authorities opened 148 cases against soldiers for desertion, a more serious offense that can carry a penalty of up to 15 years in prison if committed while mobilization is in effect. That’s a sixfold increase from 2022.

By the end of the year, military courts were issuing approximately 500 sentences against soldiers for abandoning their units each month. According to Mediazona, many of the defendants were give probation-like sentences, allowing them to be sent back to the front.