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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
Another deadline has passed — the fourth (!) in Ukrainian history for a simplified procedure to return from unauthorized absence from a unit (AWOL).
The state is true to itself. It tries to treat perhaps the most painful problem of the army at the level of symptoms and consequences, not causes.
It’s almost sinful to joke, but I will: in reality it would be worth simply decriminalizing AWOL, just introducing some kind of fine for it, and that would simplify life for many. Because all those menacing criminal articles don’t work even one percent of the time. No wonder that in December 2025 the statistics were hidden — both on AWOL and on the percentage of convictions under that article, because either number would be two separate shames for Ukraine.
And in fact our reality is not far from the joke, because the first AWOL now implies zero real punishment. But a huge hassle for investigators, prosecutors, and judges, who will work for years to issue a verdict.
That’s one thing. And the second is that government institutions constantly offer simplifications of the return procedure for AWOL with no consequences for the person involved.
There were previous deadlines. 1 January 2025 — the first legislative “window” for voluntary return from AWOL with guaranteed restoration of service and provisions. 1 March 2025 — an extension of that same mechanism. 30 August 2025 — a new, expanded statutory window that also covered new cases of AWOL. After each deadline, return remained possible, but no longer under the preferential regime.
By modest estimates, we have about 400 or even more thousand AWOL cases, and not even five Ukrainian court systems together with the prosecutor’s office and the State Bureau of Investigations could investigate them all and issue convictions. So this is already the fourth time the state raises its hands in complete inability to do anything about it.
Regarding the root causes of this phenomenon.
I’ll remind you that the most people desert at the training center stage, when newly mobilized and psychologically unprepared fresh servicemen are trying to be turned into infantrymen.
Of course, for those who have fought for many years this sounds mocking now, but to make the current average recruit psychologically fit for the army (after everything that pours out of TikTok and Telegram), a course of soft adaptation really needs to be introduced.
The second-ranked factor is falling out with the command. This happens due to the command’s fault, the subordinates’ fault, or both.
This should be resolved, in particular, by simplifying transfers. Transfers, of course, will not eliminate the problem, but will give a chance for relief.
The current transfer system is still slow hell. Even when both commanders (the one releasing and the one receiving) agree, the system can block the transfer for months. And what can I say when we try to use it to resolve a conflict?
The third factor — money.
Someone may be surprised, but soldiers need money because they have families.
And the pennies they are paid now are an insult that becomes more painful and humiliating year by year. I’ll remind you that the amount of monetary provision has effectively not changed throughout the war, despite significant inflation in the country.
However, in the 27-th year there is some hope: an increase in expenditures for this item was laid into the draft state budget by more than 20%+. If only that money exists, if only this really becomes an increase in monetary provision. Let’s be optimistic and strive for what was previously impossible.
Ihor Lutsenko, servicemember; author’s page on Facebook
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