According to data from the prosecutor’s office, nearly 95,000 criminal cases have been initiated since 2022 against soldiers accused of going “absent without leave” (AWOL) or committing the more serious offense of desertion during combat.
KYIV:
Facing a critical shortage of troops, especially infantry, Ukraine’s military is extending a second chance to soldiers who have previously absconded from service to bolster its defenses against Russia’s much larger army.
According to the prosecutor’s office, nearly 95,000 criminal cases have been initiated since 2022 against soldiers accused of being “absent without leave” (AWOL) or the more severe offense of desertion.
The number of such cases has surged dramatically, with nearly two-thirds occurring in 2024. With tens of thousands of soldiers killed or injured, this loss of manpower presents a challenge Ukraine can scarcely afford.
In response, some units have begun reintegrating absconded soldiers into their ranks. Among them is Ukraine’s elite 47th Brigade, which recently issued a social media call inviting AWOL soldiers to return and rejoin its forces.
“Our aim is to give every soldier the opportunity to return and realize their potential,” read a recent post from Ukraine’s elite 47th Brigade. Within the first two days, over 100 applications were received.
“There was a tsunami of applications—so many that we’re still struggling to process them all before new ones arrive,” said Viacheslav Smirnov, the brigade’s head of recruitment, two weeks after the announcement.
Two military units interviewed by Reuters clarified that they are only recruiting soldiers who went AWOL from their bases, not those who deserted during combat. Within Ukraine’s military, base absences are considered a lesser offense.
Thousands of Ukrainian Soldiers Return to Duty After Absconding
A recently signed law has effectively decriminalized a soldier’s first disappearance, allowing them to return to service without penalty. Colonel Oleksandr Hrynchuk, deputy head of Ukraine’s military police, revealed that 6,000 AWOL soldiers have returned to duty in the past month, including 3,000 in just 72 hours since the law’s enactment.
Mykhailo Perets, an officer with the K-2 battalion of Ukraine’s 54th Brigade, shared that his unit has already integrated over 30 individuals who had gone AWOL from other brigades.
“The reasons for absconding vary. For some, the abrupt shift from civilian life was overwhelming. Others, trained as skilled [drone] pilots, were reassigned to the front lines due to an infantry shortage. Some applicants had been fighting for years and were simply exhausted,” Perets explained, referring to soldiers who had been engaged in conflict against Russian-backed forces in eastern Ukraine since before 2022.
Gil Barndollar, a non-resident fellow at the U.S.-based Defense Priorities think tank, attributes the rise in absences to exhaustion. Ukrainian personnel have voiced concerns about the strain caused by a lack of replacements, which has left remaining soldiers physically and mentally drained.
Barndollar also noted the challenges posed by the army’s demographics. “An army of men, often in poor health and in their 40s, will tire more quickly and face morale issues faster than an army of reasonably fit 20- or 25-year-olds,” he said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has addressed concerns about manpower, asserting that Ukraine’s primary shortfall is weaponry, not soldiers. He has resisted U.S. pressure to lower the draft age from 25 to 18, emphasizing that only a quarter of the 10 new brigades formed over the past year have been equipped with adequate resources from Kyiv’s allies.
