Russian Troops Desert En Masse in Occupied Ukraine, Reports Claim
There are tense reports of a major obstacle that Russian soldiers are confronting in the captured Kherson region amidst the ongoing crisis in Ukraine. There are rumors going around that soldiers are deserting in droves, according to sources in Ukraine.Atesh, a Ukrainian resistance organization that keeps an eye on Russian actions in the area, reports that there has been a noticeable troop withdrawal from their positions. They claim that these exits are the result of voluntary resignation from their positions rather than compulsion or tactical reallocation.
Soldiers are reportedly escaping to neighboring areas in order to avoid being assigned to battle zones. The group cites official reports from the “Dnepr” group of the Russian Armed Forces, which show that personnel are generally refusing to participate in combat missions.
According to reports, some of these deserting soldiers are being given the military classification SOCH, which is comparable to the English term AWOL. It is alleged that these desertions represent a serious setback for Russian soldiers and could jeopardize their capacity to keep authority over the area.
Apart from the desertions, there have been allegations of an inflow of occupying army forces into the southern Kherson village of Novooleksiivka. Many of these troops have various tattoos, which has led residents to assume that they may have criminal backgrounds. These soldiers are reportedly seeking refuge in abandoned houses.
After Ukrainian forces won a decisive victory in the region in 2022, military activity has decreased in Kherson, which was formerly a hotspot for combat during the early phases of the Russian invasion.
As a means of establishing control over the citizenship status of the occupied population, Russia has imposed passports on them. This makes it more difficult for Ukraine to recover lost territory and gives Moscow an excuse to justify its actions by claiming that it is defending its own citizens.
The purported widespread desertions underscore the difficulties Russian forces face in retaining control over occupied territory as the scenario in Kherson continues to unfold. It is unclear how these events may affect the larger Ukrainian war.
