Opendatabot claims that the Financial Times overestimated the number of deserters in the Armed Forces by 3 times
17 December 2024 09:56
Recently, the Financial Times published a high-profile article in which it claimed, citing data from the Prosecutor General’s Office, that the number of deserters in Ukraine had reached 60,000 in 10 months. However, in fact, the number of cases opened under Article 408 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (CCU), “Desertion,” in the reports of the Prosecutor General’s Office is almost three times less. The OpenDataBot decided to look into the data, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
As it turns out, the material in question combines desertion (Article 408 of the Criminal Code) and unauthorized abandonment of a unit (Article 407 of the Criminal Code) without explanation.
How many and what kind of cases were opened
19,922 criminal proceedings were opened due to desertion in the first 10 months of this year. Moreover, the number of deserters is increasing year by year. Compared to the same period last year, the number of such cases increased 3.7 times. Only 3% of cases this year have been served with a notice of suspicion, and only 1.3% of cases have gone to trial.
This year, 41,950 criminal proceedings have been opened for unauthorized abandonment of a military unit, twice as many as for desertion. Cases under Article 407 increased 3.3 times over the year. At the same time, the investigation of cases of HRW is also more effective: 13% of cases were served with a suspicion, and 7% went to trial.
What is the difference between desertion and HRW?
It is important to distinguish between these offenses and not to mix them, as such mistakes can be used by Russian propaganda.
According to lawyer Valentyna Slobodianiuk, “criminal law provides that both AWOL and desertion are unauthorized leaving of the place of service, but it is important that these crimes differ in the behavior of the soldier after such an act and the purpose of such actions.
“If a person takes measures to return to service, such a violation will be qualified as an AWOL. Desertion, on the other hand, is essentially hiding from law enforcement and other state bodies, as well as military authorities, in order to evade military service. Desertion, unlike sabotage, is a particularly serious military crime and is punishable by imprisonment for up to 12 years,” says lawyer Valentyna Slobodianiuk.
Thus, AWOL is considered to be a temporary leaving of the place of service without the permission of the commander or valid reasons, or absence from service for a certain period – in particular, it refers to cases when a serviceman does not return from vacation or treatment, etc. That is, the person had no intention of avoiding service at all.
In contrast to unauthorized leaving of a military unit, desertion is considered in cases where a serviceman does not intend to return.
It is worth recalling that servicemen who, during martial law, left their place of service without permission or committed desertion for the first time, may voluntarily return to service by January 1, 2025, and will be exempt from criminal liability, and their cases will be closed. According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, over the past three months, about 8,000 servicemen have already taken advantage of this opportunity.
