In October, courts issued about 100 decisions not to imprison military for AWOL - SBI
In October, courts in five regions of Ukraine issued about a hundred decisions not to imprison servicemen who had gone AWOL for the first time, but to allow them to return to service.
This was reported by the press service of the State Bureau of Investigation, Censor.NET reports.
"The State Bureau of Investigation is working to identify and return to service soldiers who have gone AWOL for the first time," the statement said.
It is noted that this is facilitated by recent changes to the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which allow courts to make appropriate decisions.
Cases of returning to service after AWOL without imprisonment
In particular, the Frankivsk District Court of Lviv ruled on a serviceman who, in March 2024, went AWOL from his military unit in Donetsk region.
Later, law enforcement officers detained him and notified him of suspicion.
The man explained that he had been on the front line for a long time and simply could not withstand the stress, but regretted his actions. Given that it was the first time the serviceman had committed such an offense and was ready to continue his service, the court ruled to release him from criminal liability.
At the end of October, the Volodymyr-Volynskyi City Court of Volyn region released from criminal liability a serviceman who had gone AWOL from his military unit in Volyn last November.
However, the man repented of his actions and received a written consent from the commander of the military unit to reinstate him in service. Based on this, the court decided to release him from criminal liability.
"In October alone, based on SBI materials, courts in Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Volyn, Zakarpattia, and Ternopil regions issued about a hundred decisions not to imprison the military but to allow them to return to service," the SBI added.
What preceded it?
As a reminder, on September 21, 2024, the soldier wrote on Facebook that he had gone AWOL from his unit to draw attention to the need to set terms of service for mobilized soldiers.
"The absence of clear terms of service contributes to 'black demobilization': marriages to pensioners with disabilities were once a meme, but now they are very common, divorcing wives to get sole custody of their children, divorcing their own parents to get care for their mother or father, going AWOL. There is a lot to learn from history, but unfortunately, we do not learn the lessons of history.
The government is still incapable of a serious dialog with society and intolerant of the failure to fulfill civic duty by a wide range of citizens. Instead of the doctrine that "fighting is the duty of every citizen," the government proposes to appoint those who were caught on the streets as defenders for an indefinite period of time," he explained.
The 56th Separate Motorised Infantry Brigade ordered an internal investigation.
Subsequently, Serhii Hnezdilov, a soldier of the 56th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade, who publicly reported on AWOL, was served with a suspicion of desertion.
On October 11, Kyiv's Pecherskyi District Court imposed a two-month custodial sentence on Serhii Hnezdilov, a soldier with the 56th Brigade. The soldier is suspected of desertion.
Hnezdilov took part in battles in the Donetsk region, including Pisky and Bakhmut. He is also the founder of the cultural festival VydelkaFest in his hometown of Vilkovo in the Odesa region and hosts the Hromadske podcast "++ Podcast", where he talks to the military and raises the issue of militarisation of society.
Censor.NET previously published an interview with Hnezdilov.
