Prosecutor General’s Office explained disappearance of data on AWOL and desertion from statistics
The Prosecutor General's Office confirmed that data on AWOLs and desertions had been deliberately removed from the statistics — the information was restricted due to the risks of its use by Russia in information operations and possible damage to national security.
According to Censor.NET, this was reported to hromadske by Mariana Haiovska-Kovbasiuk, head of the press service of the Prosecutor General's Office.
May be used against Ukraine
As noted by the Prosecutor General's Office, restricting access to information about military criminal offences is a necessary and legitimate step, as it could be used against Ukraine in information and psychological operations.
In particular, data on AWOL and desertion can be used to form false conclusions about the moral and psychological state of Ukrainian servicemen, the Prosecutor General's Office explained.
In addition, the Russians can use the information to assess the level of discipline, combat readiness of Ukrainian units and the mobilisation system.
Therefore, during the period of martial law, it was decided to conceal information about such offences from public statistics.
Complies with the Law of Ukraine "On Access to Public Information"
The Office of the Prosecutor General added that this complies with all the conditions set out in Part 2 of Article 6 of the Law of Ukraine "On Access to Public Information":
- it is done solely in the interests of national security, territorial integrity or public safety;
- disclosure of such information could cause significant harm to national interests;
- the harm caused by disclosure outweighs the public interest in obtaining such information.
What preceded it?
As a reminder, earlier, military and public figure Ihor Lutsenko noted that the Office of the Prosecutor General did not provide data on the number of cases initiated for AWOL and desertion in its statistical report for November.
He suggested that this happened after an "absolute record" was set in October in the registration of proceedings under Articles 407 and 408 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
In total, from January 2022 to September 2025, law enforcement agencies opened almost 300 criminal cases for AWOL and desertion.
