Russian deserters terrorize villages on temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories
Gangs of Russian army deserters are operating in the temporarily occupied territories, Serhii Danylov said (Photo: Vladimir Saldo via Telegram)
Russian army deserters are operating in the temporarily occupied territories, Russian forces are now targeting them during most of their searches, Association of Middle East Studies Deputy Director Serhii Danylov said in an interview with NV.
Responding to a question about the extent to which the newly Russian-occupied territories have turned into a lawless gray zone, Danylov noted that this was the case during the first year or two.
"The worst memories are of the police from ORDLO [the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts]; they were not only the most cruel, but they also 'read' the faces of our people better than the Russians," the expert explained.
"Then, gradually, some order emerged in cities like Skadovsk and Melitopol. But outside the cities, things are different; in the villages around the cities, there is a problem with deserters, the so-called 'sachi' [shirkers]. They flee the Russian army, hide, form gangs, attack villages, and rob people. For a long time now, the majority of searches are no longer about hunting for Ukrainian partisans, but hunting for their own 'sachi'."
He added that there is "no law" in the frontline areas of Zaporizhzhya Oblast.
"The FSB doesn't even go there anymore," Danylov said.
"And the local military do whatever they want. If they want, they will kill you. If they want, they will rape you. If they want, they will rob you. You are completely at their mercy."
In January 2025, it was reported that following the Russia's full-scale military invasion of Ukraine, 6,445 cases of desertion or unauthorized abandonment of a unit were officially recorded within the airborne units of the Russian Armed Forces.
In October 2025, Militery Intelligence reported that over a nine-month period, from Novenber 2024 to July 2025, over 25,000 soldiers and officers of the Russian Central Military District went AWOL.
The Association of Middle East Studies recently presented a study titled In Search of Recovery Paths: Risks and Features of De-occupation, which systematized the experiences of people who became witnesses and hostages to Russian violence and propaganda. Since the beginning of the occupation, the Association's research team has been speaking with Ukrainians in occupied areas, as well as in liberated settlements of Kherson Oblast.
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