Servicemen who voluntarily return from AWOL by 1 January will be reinstated with all social guarantees - SBI
Servicemen who voluntarily return to service before 1 January 2025 will be reinstated with all social guarantees.
This was stated by Tetiana Sapian, Communications Advisor of the State Bureau of Investigation, during the "United News" telethon, Censor.NET reports.
The main purpose of the law is to create opportunities for servicemen who have left for the AWOL to return to their units by 1 January 2025 and continue their service without remorse and without conflict with the legislation of Ukraine," she stressed.
Sapian reminded that the legislator has now developed a special algorithm for the return of servicemen to service.
In particular, the law stipulates that servicemen who left military units or places of service without permission or deserted before the entry into force of this law have the opportunity to voluntarily arrive at the relevant military units to continue their military service no later than 1 January 2025.
The head of the military unit shall extend the contract no later than 72 hours from the date of their arrival at the military unit or place of service, and resume the payment of cash, food, clothing and other types of support. In addition, according to her, such a serviceman is restored to all benefits provided by the state.
In addition, the commander must notify the pre-trial investigation body and the military law enforcement service that the military contract of the serviceman is extended.
"This ensures that the automatic procedure for closing the criminal prosecution initiated against the serviceman begins," said the SBI communications adviser.
At the same time, if the serviceman does not return to the place of service by 1 January, the criminal proceedings may be terminated by a verdict.
For AWOL, desertion can result in imprisonment for up to ten years. But today we are talking to you about the fact that military units will gladly accept their brothers-in-arms back to service," she stressed.
Returning to service after AWOL
As a reminder, earlier, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed Law No. 12095 on voluntary return to service for those who have left their military unit without permission or deserted for the first time.
According to the law, criminal proceedings initiated in relation to criminal offences under Articles 407 and 408 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine against servicemen who first left military units or places of service without permission or deserted and voluntarily returned and expressed their readiness to continue their military service are not grounds for refusing to extend the military service of such servicemen and the validity of their contract.
