Zelensky Signs Law Allowing AWOL Soldiers to Resume Service

28 November, 2024 Ukrainian servicemen.

2024. Ukraine. Photo credits: 47th Separate Mechanized Brigade

The President of Ukraine has signed a law allowing soldiers who, for the first time, left a military unit without permission or deserted, to voluntarily return to service. This is confirmed by information in the draft law card regarding amendments to part two of Article 24 of the Law of Ukraine "On Military Duty and Military Service." The law takes effect the day after its publication.

On November 21, the Verkhovna Rada passed Law No.

12095, enabling voluntary return to service for soldiers who have, for the first time, left their military units without permission or deserted. Under this law, during the martial law period, military personnel who voluntarily return to their units or places of service and express their willingness to continue serving will have their contracts extended and resume active service. Payments for monetary allowances, food, clothing, and other forms of support, as well as benefits and social guarantees, will also be reinstated.

Criminal proceedings initiated against servicemen who first left military units without permission and voluntarily arrived and expressed their readiness to continue military service are not grounds for refusing to extend military service and the validity of their contract.

Going AWOL

Of all the military criminal offenses in the Criminal Code of Ukraine, absence without leave (AWOL) before Russia's full-scale invasion was the rarest type of criminal offense. In 2022, the Office of the Prosecutor General registered more than 6,000 such cases. In the first nine months of 2024 alone, the number was six times higher.

Illustrative photo with a man in military uniform for the news about going AWOL

In January 2023, a law came into force increasing responsibility for AWOL.

These changes were supported by Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, who served as commander-in-chief when the bill was under consideration.

In August 2024, the Verkhovna Rada allowed military servicemen who had left their units without permission or deserted for the first time to apply for return to service.