Hero of Ukraine assessed the scale of the AWOL problem in the Ukrainian army.

Participant in the liberation of Kherson spoke about the issue of military personnel leaving without authorization

Hero of Ukraine Ihor Kondratevych, who took part in the liberation of Kherson, shared his observations about the low number of incidents of military personnel leaving their units. In an interview for Glavkom, he mentioned that during his entire service, only a few individuals managed to escape from his unit.

He noted that those who decided to leave his unit did not return, and those who expressed a desire to return were refused. This indicates that Kondratevych views such individuals negatively. He claims that they are likely incapable of performing combat tasks and are engaged in insignificant matters. However, he recalled that there were cases when some of them returned to other units where they could be more useful.

Kondratevych pointed out that each situation and reason for leaving without authorization is individual. He also mentioned the existing law that allows for voluntary return of those who left their military unit or deserted.

In the first half of 2024, the number of AWOL incidents increased, but in September-October, this figure began to decrease.