As the result of the work of the SBI, the solders, who for the first time left their military units without permission, began to return to the front instead of imprisonment

The State Bureau of Investigation conducts meticulous work to identify and return to service fighters, who for the first time left their military units without permission. This work is facilitated by recent amendments to the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which allow courts to make relevant decisions.

At the end of September 2024, the Novomoskovskiy City District Court of the Dnipropetrovsk Region decided not to imprison the soldier, who in December 2023 left the location of the military unit stationed in the Dnipropetrovsk region without appropriate orders.

During the pre-trial investigation of criminal proceeding, the investigators of the SBI have established the location of the soldier and detained him.

The man was served notification of suspicion for the unauthorized abandonment of a military unit under martial law (Part 5 of Article 407 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

During the trial, the soldier filed a petition for his release from liability because of the desire to continue military service in one of the military units, the commander of which agreed to enlist him.

Based on Part 5 of Article 401 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, the court decided to exempt the soldier from criminal liability.

In addition, on October 2, 2024, the Belyaevskiy District Court of the Odesa Region and the Korabelniy District Court of Mykolaiv released two servicemen of one of the mechanized brigades from criminal liability. One of them left the place of service in November 2022, the other in January 2024, during the deployment of their military unit in the Vinnitsa region.

A similar verdict on October 7 was passed by the Saratskiy District Court of Odesa Region against the Deputy company commander of another military unit, who left his place of service in December 2023, also during his deployment in Vinnitsa region.

The law enforcement officers detained the militaries. Since the militaries left the place of service for the first time and voluntarily decided to continue to serve, they were released from custody on the basis of Part 5 of Article 401 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

The leadership of one of the military brigades agreed to accept these persons into service, so they will continue to defend the country as part of this military unit.

The SBI emphasizes that the unauthorized abandonment of a military unit or place of service, without reason, committed in a combat situation, is punishable by imprisonment of up to 10 years. Therefore, those who for the first time got into such situation have a chance to return to the rank, help their comrades to defend the country and continue to live without remorse and conflicts with the law.