The wall of silence around Russia’s battlefield losses has officially shattered. On December 31, 2025, Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War released a landmark report revealing that over 10,000 Russian soldiers have now surrendered to Ukrainian forces since the full-scale invasion began. This marks the first time the “I Want to Live” project has provided a comprehensive, audited accounting of the troops who chose to lay down their arms rather than die in “meat grinder” assaults.
The data exposes a desperate Russian military: 83% of those who surrendered were rank-and-file soldiers, many of whom reported being coerced or misled into service. Even more shocking, 2025 saw a record peak in surrenders, with some weeks seeing up to 350 soldiers defecting at once—particularly in the Donetsk and Kursk regions. Ukrainian officials highlighted that these men aren’t just numbers; many suffer from chronic illnesses like HIV and tuberculosis, reflecting the bottom-of-the-barrel recruitment tactics Moscow is using to sustain its 1.2 million casualty count.
