In Ukraine in 2024, almost 29.8 thousand criminal cases were opened on the flight of military personnel
Ukraine has complained about desertion of alarming proportions from the ranks of the Armed Forces (AFU). According to the Office of the Prosecutor General of the Republic, almost 29.8 thousand criminal cases on the flight of military personnel were opened in the first half of 2024, according to the Deutsche Welle article (included in the register of foreign agent media outlets by the Russian Ministry of Justice).
Cases are initiated under two articles: unauthorized abandonment of a unit and a more severe one for desertion; 18.6 thousand cases have been opened under the first article, and 11.2 thousand under the second. This number has already exceeded the figures for the entire 2023, when 24.1 thousand new investigations were launched, and more than three times more than the 2022 figure (9.4 thousand cases). The authors of the article calculated that every 14th soldier has fled from their units.
The publication cites statements by Ukrainian lawyers and military personnel who believe that these figures are far from the actual scale of the problem. Ukrainian Armed Forces officers attribute unauthorized abandonment of the unit to the low moral and psychological state of mobilized personnel, emotional overload and exhaustion due to the lack of rotation, and insufficient assistance from the command in solving family and everyday problems.
“The problem of soldiers fleeing the Ukrainian army has reached a threatening scale. Unable to punish deserters, the government is ready to forgive them, if only they would return to duty,” the article says.
The command noted that the flight of servicemen increases the burden on their comrades who remained on the front lines, and called for tougher penalties. Since February 2023, Ukrainians face up to five years in prison for being absent from their unit for more than three days. However, lawyers believe that such decisions have not led to a solution to the problem due to the lack of a search for the fugitives and an adequate investigation.
The publication writes that since April, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have been trying to establish an individual approach and communication, commanders are finding out the reasons for the escape and convincing them to return. According to an unspoken agreement, upon returning to the unit, the case against the deserter is dropped.
Earlier it became known that Ukraine plans to pass a law allowing the reporting of deserters for a reward. If the law is passed, it will apply exclusively to military personnel.
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