Russian soldiers revolt against Putin and surrender to Ukraine in record numbers | World | News
Russian soldiers are surrendering to Ukraine in record numbers, with 2025 seeing more wave the white flag than any other year. The data, released through the “I Want to Live” project, a Ukrainian government initiative that tracks Russian military surrenders and provides channels for defection, shows that an average of 60 to 90 Russian troops surrender each week, as Putin’s war rages on.
The highest number of recorded surrenders was 350 in a single week in August 2024, while since June 2023 Russian forces have been captured more frequently than Ukrainians, reversing earlier trends. The majority of Russia prisoners of war (POWs) were captured in Ukraine‘s eastern region of Donetsk, where fierce battles have raged throughout the almost four-year long war.
Putin’s soldiers were also taken prisoner in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region and Russia’s Kursk province, after Kyiv’s army conducted a lightening raid in the summer of 2024.
Approximately 7% of all captured soldiers were identified as mercenaries from 40 different countries, with 2–3 new foreign fighters discovered weekly.
The “I Want to Live” project provided a breakdown of the Russian prisoners: 83% were rank-and-file soldiers, 13% were non-commissioned officers, 3% were officers, while most were between 18 and 65 years old.
As high as 76% were contract soldiers, including many recruited from Russian prisons and private military companies. Only 19% were people who had been mobilised, while 5% were conscripts, according to the published data.
Hundreds of those captured were reported to be suffering from chronic health conditions, such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, diabetes, and mental illnesses.
Over 6,000 Russian POWs have been returned as part of prisoner exchanges agreed between Kyiv and Moscow, according to the Coordination Headquarters.
Putin’s army has sustained horrific casualties since the launch of the full-scale invasion in February 2022, with Russian commanders seemingly payling little heed to the well-being of their troops.
Ukraine’s General Staff estimates that some 1,213,460 Russian soldiers have been either killed or injured during the course of the war.
The high rate of of casualties shows no sign of slowing down, as Putin’s generals desperately attempt to achieve a major breakthrough on the frontlines.
Over the course of 2025, Russia’s army only managed to take territory amounting to 0.8 percent of Ukraine’s 603,550sq km, according to Kyiv’s army chief Oleksandr Syrskii.
However, the incremental gains have come at a high human cost, with almost 420,000 Russians killed and wounded in 2025 alone.
