A single military district lost over 25K troops to desertion, with soldiers abandoning positions, disappearing from bases, or failing to return from leave, according to Ukraine's Main Directorate of Intelligence.
Since the full-scale invasion began, Moscow mobilized 1.3 million troops and nearly one million of Russian soldiers were killed or wounded during this time, while the Kremlin remains committed to the war of attrition in Ukraine.
Residents of Dzerzhinsky in Moscow Oblast caused an uproar when they found out the image of a soldier on their building is used for Ukrainian military recruitment.
Aleksey Makarov, a member of the Ukrainian armed forces in a unit for foreign volunteers, believes that a Ukrainian victory will ignite a revolution in Russia, ultimately leading to the overthrow of Putin's regime.
More than 100 Russian soldiers were reportedly killed in a Ukrainian ATACMS missile strike on a training ground in Luhansk Oblast, according to footage and analysis.
116 cases in 2023 demonstrate a dramatic increase from the 13 convictions in 2022 and 11 in 2021, signaling a new trend within the Russian military ranks.
ISW reported even earlier that low Russian morale affected the prospects of Russian offensive operations. However, the report said, "Ukraine's current material shortages may make it difficult for Ukrainian forces to defend against Russian forces — even those that are exhausted and unmotivated."
Russia aimed at sustaining its forces in Ukraine, which have suffered significant losses, and plans to increase the size of its armed forces to 1.32 million this year and 1.5 million subsequently, according to the British Defense Ministry.
With Russia providing little information on the fate of its soldiers in Ukraine, relatives are now looking to a new Ukrainian project for help finding captured troops.
Trapped in a Russian prison, Mikhail Pavlov faced two options - join the attacks on Ukraine as a Storm-Z combatant, or find a way to escape and fight alongside Ukrainian forces