During the war, almost 290,000 Ukrainian soldiers left their units
14 October 16:13
Ukrainian law enforcement agencies have opened nearly 290,000 criminal cases of unauthorized abandonment of units and desertion since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
This was reported by Ukrayinska Pravda, citing a response from the Prosecutor General’s Office.
From January 2022 to September 2025, 235,646 proceedings were registered under the article on unauthorized abandonment of a unit and 53,954 on desertion. A sharp increase has occurred since September 2024. Since then, law enforcement officers have recorded almost 176,000 cases of AWOL and about 24,000 cases of desertion.
Earlier, in response to a request from Ukrayinska Pravda, the Prosecutor General’s Office reported that as of July 2025, 202,997 cases of unauthorized abandonment of units and 50,058 cases of desertion had been registered. Suspicions were brought in 15,564 and 1,248 cases, respectively.
In November 2024, Ukraine introduced a mechanism that allows military personnel to return to service without punishment if they left their unit for the first time or deserted. The effect of this mechanism was ambiguous: on the one hand, more than 29,000 Ukrainian servicemen returned to the army, while on the other hand, the number of cases of SJW and desertion increased significantly.
