In Ukraine, it is proposed not to open criminal cases regarding AWOL.

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine is preparing an important draft law intended to address the problem of servicemen's unauthorized leaving of their assigned military units (AWOL).

This was reported by the member of the Verkhovna Rada's Committee on National Security, Fedir Venislavsky, in an interview with the newspaper hromadske.

He noted that the draft law, which is planned to be registered in the coming days, provides for the complete decriminalization of AWOL for servicemen who voluntarily return to service. According to the new approach, criminal proceedings will not be initiated against such individuals.

"We want to eliminate the possibility that a person is even within the orbit of criminal proceedings if they voluntarily return. This is what deters many from returning to military service. That is, we want the possibility to return to military service without the fear of having a criminal record," he said.

The current law, according to the deputy, works only in cases where a person has already been notified of suspicion and the court decides to release them from criminal liability. The new draft law is intended to simplify the process of returning servicemen to duty and mitigate factors reducing mobilization rates.

Venislavsky also refuted the information that the number of servicemen who have gone AWOL exceeds 100,000 people. According to him, the real number is less, although he cannot disclose exact data due to their confidential nature.

Recall that earlier a lawyer stated that over 100,000 servicemen had gone AWOL since the beginning of the full-scale invasion in 2022.

Regarding the definition of specific terms of military service in legislation, the deputy noted that committee members plan to discuss these issues at a meeting with the Minister of Defense.