The Law on the SZCH and Desertion: What is known about the terms of return

On November 21, 2024, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted Bill No. 12095, which regulates the return to service of servicemen who voluntarily left a military unit for the first time or deserted.

According to MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak, the document was supported by 253 parliamentarians.

Updated: On November 29, during a telethon, Tetyana Sapyan, advisor to the director of the State Bureau of Investigation for Communications, announced the date by which servicemen must return from the NWCH without criminal liability.

If you went to the NWCH as a serviceman, then you have the opportunity to return to the military unit from the end of November to January 1 of the new year, that is, in a month.

After returning, the commander extends the contract or renews the serviceman's service within 72 hours. All payments, benefits, and social guarantees are renewed.

When a serviceman returns to his military unit, he is obliged to notify the pre-trial investigation body or the military law enforcement service that the serviceman has returned to defend the borders of Ukraine. This is the algorithm of actions for today.

Main provisions of the law

The law provides that during martial law, servicemen who first voluntarily left their place of service or deserted may voluntarily return to their units and continue their service.

In such a case, their military service and the validity of the contract are continued, and payments of cash benefits, food, material and other types of provision, benefits and social guarantees are also renewed.

Exemption from criminal liability

Servicemen who voluntarily return to their place of service may be exempt from criminal liability under Articles 407 (unauthorized abandonment of a military unit or place of service) and 408 (desertion) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

To do this, it is necessary that the serviceman voluntarily declares to the investigator or prosecutor his intention to return to the military unit or place of service to continue his service before the end of the pre-trial investigation.

Disappointing statistics

From January to October 2024 alone, 40,659 cases of unauthorized abandonment of the unit and 19,826 of desertion were opened. This is twice as many as in the entire year 2023, sources in the General Staff told BBC Ukraine.

In 2022, there were less than 10 thousand such cases. According to unofficial information from the General Staff, the real number of cases may be 100-150 thousand.

Why is this happening

Experts call the main reasons the moral exhaustion of the military, lack of rotations and lack of vacations. Often, those mobilized are sent to the front without sufficient training.

Military Kaban, who left the service, tells the BBC:

I do not refuse to continue serving, but not in this military unit and not with this leadership. There I feel a danger to my life and constant moral abuse

Lawyer Anton Nezhivyi notes that desertion (voluntary abandonment of the unit) and desertion differ in the level of social danger.

Desertion is a temporary abandonment of service, while desertion involves evasion of duty.

At the same time, both are criminal offenses punishable by up to 10-12 years in prison.

This decision was a logical addition to the previously adopted bill No. 8271, which increased responsibility for war crimes.

However, harsh punishments could not stop the increase in cases of desertion and desertion.

The new law offers a balance between discipline and support for the military.