Hundreds of Russian soldiers are going AWOL and refusing to fight as morale plummets, UK intelligence says

• Russia's conviction rate for AWOL soldiers soared to 100 a week, UK officials said.
• Lack of training, low motivation, and the dangers of combat were driving the trend, they said.
• Russia has deep problems with recruitment, and is offering big cash rewards to sign up.

Almost 100 Russian soldiers are convicted every week for refusing to fight in Ukraine, UK intelligence said Wednesday, part of a broader manpower crisis in the Russian military.

British officials were passing on figures reported by Mediazona, an independent Russian news outlet.