In October, courts in Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Volyn, Transcarpathian, and Ternopil regions issued almost a hundred decisions not to imprison military personnel, but to allow them to return to service in cases of leaving a military unit without permission (AWOL).
This is reported by the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI).
In particular, the Frankivsk District Court of the city of Lviv made a relevant decision regarding a serviceman who voluntarily left the military unit in the Donetsk region in March 2024. Later, the law enforcement officers detained him and informed about the suspicion. The suspect in the case said that he regretted what he had done.
The court took into account that the serviceman had committed such an offense for the first time and was ready to continue his service, and therefore released the man from criminal liability. A similar case was, for example, in the Volyn and Dnipropetrovsk regions.
Such judgments became possible thanks to the new law No. 11322, which decriminalizes desertion and leaving a military unit without permission (AWOL), if it has occurred for the first time. However, this is only possible if they voluntarily return to military service.
When such soldiers return to duty, they are reinstated in cash payments and benefits. No money is paid for absence from service.
- In Ukraine, in January-April 2023, 10 584 criminal proceedings under the article on the leaving a military unit without permission and 7 306 proceedings for desertion were registered.
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