(MENAFN) Over 21,000 troops abandoned Ukraine's military last month without authorization, BBC Ukraine disclosed Friday, marking the steepest single-month desertion spike throughout the four-year conflict.

The figure represents an unprecedented crisis in military retention, according to BBC Ukraine, which obtained the statistics from the Prosecutor General's Office.

Former Ukrainian lawmaker Igor Lutsenko, currently serving in the armed forces, suggested the exodus may be far greater than official tallies indicate.

Writing on Facebook Friday, Lutsenko stated: "21,602 in October... This is a record. This is a very bad record," before warning, "This is just official data. In reality, many AWOL or desertion cases are not registered."

The mass departures are crippling frontline operations, Lutsenko emphasized. Ukrainian troops face "enormous strain, because a double, triple load falls on every soldier who hasn't fled," he noted, adding: "We have huge holes in our defense at the front because of this."

Kiev has intensified compulsory mobilization efforts in recent months as Russian advances continue and troop shortages worsen.

Forced conscription complaints have doubled since early June compared to the year's first five months, Ukrainian parliamentary human rights commissioner Dmitry Lubinets told Ukrainskaya Pravda Wednesday.

Street-level footage consistently captures Ukrainian recruitment teams ambushing draft-eligible men, forcibly detaining them amid physical confrontations with targets and onlookers. This aggressive tactic—dubbed 'busification'—has fueled widespread public resentment.

Nikita Poturaev, chair of Ukraine's parliamentary Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy, dismissed such footage last month as fabricated or AI-generated.

Ukrainian conscription officials urged citizens in early October to cease recording and distributing videos showing violent recruitment encounters.

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