Ukraine’s newly appointed Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said openly on Jan. 14 that 200,000 soldiers are absent without official leave (AWOL) and around 2 million are “wanted” allegedly for mobilization (draft) evasion. The figures from the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office provided to Ukrainska Pravda show that from January 2022 to September 2025, there were over 290,000 AWOL cases, of which 54,000 were for desertion.
Fedorov suggested that correct figures have not been readily provided by previous ministers. The Kyiv Independent quoted him as telling the Verkhovna Rada legislature: “I don’t want to be a populist—I want to be a realist. The Ministry of Defense is coming into my hands,” with a financial shortfall, “2 million Ukrainians who are wanted [for evading mobilization], and 200,000 who are AWOL.”
The “whiz kid” Fedorov, a graduate of Yale’s School of Management, had become the Minister of Digital Transformation at only 28. He is famous for moving Ukraine’s bureaucracy from paper to online services. He is expected to have the Defense Ministry rely less on actual soldiers and more on electronics, robots, and drones. He told the Rada: “More robots means fewer losses, more technology means fewer deaths.” The Rada voted for his appointment.
Under Ukrainian law, all men between the ages of 18 and 60 are required to register with the military and always have their documents on them, although only those aged 25 to 60 are subject to mobilization. Those in the 23-24 group are prohibited from leaving the country, while those in the 18-22 group, at this point, only have to register and be in the system.
