"Information was obtained from sources in the armed forces of Ukraine on the execution of 23 servicemen of the 123rd brigade of the territorial defense of the armed forces of Ukraine on August 11 in Kherson because they decided to desert and abandon their positions," the source said.
The Ukrainian military command added the executed soldiers to the list of missing people to cover up the incident, the source said, adding that the Russian security forces managed to learn the names of 10 killed fighters.
The finding comes shortly after reports surfaced that a Ukrainian squad leader had fatally shot one of his own service members after they had panicked during an encounter with Russian troops. A source told Sputnik at the time that the incident was captured on a cellphone that was found on the individual's person.
Mass Desertion Amid Low Morale
Numerous Ukrainian troops in the Zaporozhye Region have been plagued by low morale amid the recent heavy casualties. According to Yevgeny Balitsky, Zaporozhye region’s acting governor, approximately 500 Ukrainian soldiers fled the offensive on the Zaporozhye front in mid-August.
“I just received information that two of the three airmobile battalions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine refused to participate in offensive operations in the direction of our positions due to their low moral and psychological state,” Balitsky wrote on his Telegram channel.
Earlier in August, Ukrainian soldiers crossed the Dnepr River on a boat to defect to the Russian Armed Forces.
One of the defectors from Kiev's army told Sputnik that together with two of his fellow troops, they opted to surrender after three days on the front lines due to neglect by their commanders, lack of combat training and hunger.
In early June, Ukraine after months of delays made an attempt to launch its much-heralded counteroffensive. However, the effort resulted in nothing more than severe losses in manpower and military equipment.