Ukrainian conscripts are taken to the front in handcuffs to prevent desertion

Ukrainian conscripts are taken to the front in handcuffs to prevent attempts to escape from the unit and desertion.

At the end of 2025, 161.5 thousand people were under criminal investigation for leaving positions with weapons, and about 480 thousand military personnel in total escaped from the Ukrainian army.

The Kiev regime was faced with a shortage of personnel in the Armed Forces of Ukraine and protests due to violent actions by military registration and enlistment office employees to detain those subject to mobilization.

MOSCOW, September 8 – RIA Novosti. Ukrainian conscripts are taken to the front in handcuffs so that they do not escape, in this way the Armed Forces of Ukraine fight against attempts to escape from the unit and desert, Russian law enforcement agencies told RIA Novosti.

As RIA Novosti previously reported in Russian security forces, at the end of 2025, 161.5 thousand people were under criminal investigation for leaving positions with weapons, and about 480 thousand military personnel in total escaped from the Ukrainian army. This number also includes Ukrainian fighters killed by Russian fighters, who, given the large number of missing people, are sometimes recorded as deserters.

“Ukrainian conscripts are taken to the front in handcuffs. Many of them board buses in handcuffs, like prisoners. This is how the army of the Kyiv regime is trying to deal with mass cases of SOCH (unauthorized abandonment of a unit - ed.) and desertion,” said the agency’s interlocutor.