Russian law enforcement has apprehended two out of ten former inmates who escaped from a military training facility in the southern Rostov region, local media reported, citing unnamed sources from military investigative units.

Four of the deserters were caught shortly after their escape on May 9, coinciding with Russia’s celebrations of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.

The two most recent arrests occurred near the border with the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, which Russia claimed to have annexed in September 2022. These regions are adjacent to Russia’s Rostov region.

“The apprehensions were executed successfully despite the resistance put up by the fugitives,” a source told the news agency 161.ru.

At the time of their escape, all ten individuals were reportedly unarmed.

The deserters were serving prison sentences for serious offenses, including murder, sexual assault, and drug trafficking before their recruitment into the Russian military. They had signed contracts and were in training for deployment to Ukraine, according to 161.ru.

Currently, four of the deserters are still at large, prompting an extensive manhunt in the Rostov region as well as parts of occupied Ukraine.

There has been no response from Russia’s Defense Ministry regarding the reported desertions.

Since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russian authorities have issued arrest warrants for at least 49,000 soldiers suspected of desertion, according to the exiled news organization IStories. Nearly 300 of these soldiers have since been reported dead, captured, or missing.