Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov says 200,000 soldiers are absent without official leave — AWOL — and that 2 million are "wanted" for avoiding military service.
"I don't want to be a populist — I want to be a realist," Fedorov said. "The Ministry of Defense is coming into my hands with a [$6.9 billion] shortfall, 2 million Ukrainians who are wanted and 200,000 who are AWOL," Fedorov said Wednesday in an address to Parliament.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appointed Fedorov, 34, at the start of the year. The former head of Ukraine's digital transformation policies is credited with spearheading the army's drone technology and introducing several successful e-government platforms.
Ukraine's Office of the Prosecutor General has launched nearly 290,000 criminal cases involving troops accused of leaving their units. More than 235,000 cases were classified as AWOL, and over 50,000 were filed as desertion.
Fedorov said Ukraine's defense sector has expanded significantly since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. At the start of the war, he said, the country had seven private drone companies and two firms developing electronic warfare systems.
Today, he said, there are nearly 500 drone manufacturers and about 200 electronic warfare companies in Ukraine.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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