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Over 250,000 desertion, AWOL cases opened since 2022, prosecutors say

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Over 250,000 desertion, AWOL cases opened since 2022, prosecutors say
A gunner of a 2S3 Akatsiya self-propelled artillery unit from the 30th Separate Mechanized Brigade named after Prince Kostiantyn Ostrozkyi prepares to carry out a combat mission in the Donetsk sector, Ukraine, August 13, 2025 (Photo by Viacheslav Madiievskyi/Ukrinform/NurPhoto via Getty Images).

More than 250,000 criminal cases have been opened into soldiers' absence without leave (AWOL) and desertion since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, the online newspaper Ukrainska Pravda reported on Aug. 26, citing the Prosecutor General's Office.

According to the data provided by the prosecutors, 202,997 criminal cases were opened into unauthorized abandonment of military units, also known as absence without leave, from 2022 to July 2025. A total of 15,564 people were officially charged with the crime.

The Prosecutor General's Office also said that 50,058 desertion cases were opened in the same period, and 1,248 individuals were charged with desertion.

Under martial law, men aged 25 to 60 can be conscripted into the armed forces.

The report comes as the Ukrainian Armed Forces are facing manpower shortages while struggling to hold back the Russian advance at the front.

Why Ukraine can’t afford to demobilize its soldiers
Editor’s note: Names of some service members have been changed or withheld for security reasons. Asked recently in parliament when Ukrainian soldiers fighting since the first days of Russia’s full-scale invasion would be coming home, President Volodymyr Zelensky replied: “When we defeat the enemy.” With the war now in its fourth year and no clear end in sight, Zelensky’s remarks, delivered following a major government reshuffle, brought renewed attention to the deeply sensitive question of whe
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Yuliia Taradiuk

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Yuliia Taradiuk is a Ukrainian reporter at the Kyiv Independent. She has been working with Lutsk-based misto.media, telling stories of Ukrainian fighters for the "All are gone to the front" project. She has experience as a freelance culture reporter, and a background in urbanism and activism, working for multiple Ukrainian NGOs. Yuliia holds B.A. degree in English language and literature from Lesya Ukrainka Volyn National University, she studied in Germany and Lithuania.

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Ukrainian men aged 18 to 60 have been prohibited from leaving the country since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, with some exceptions. Men aged 25 to 60 can be conscripted into the armed forces.

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