MOSCOW, August 7. /TASS/. Nearly all (93%) Ukrainian troops who desert the army never come back, said a source in Russian law enforcement agencies.
Earlier, the State Bureau of Investigation of Ukraine said that on August 30, the deadline for voluntary return from unauthorized absence expires. According to the decree, if you voluntarily return to service, you can recover salary benefits and avoid criminal prosecution. The law applies to those who left the unit before May 10.
"The State Bureau of Investigation has boasted that more than 29,000 soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have already taken advantage of this opportunity. Although the numbers do not play into the hands of the Kiev regime. More than three months have passed since the announcement of, if I may say so, amnesty for those who voluntarily left the unit, and only 7.25% of deserters have returned to their units. The number of deserters to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, according to various estimates, is at least 400,000 military personnel," the source said.
Ukrainian legislation holds unauthorized absence and desertion as different offenses. According to the Criminal Code, desertion presupposes the intention to permanently leave military service, while unauthorized absence is temporary. Desertion is punished with a prison term, and unauthorized abandonment of a unit triggers only a fine and the perpetrator being sent back to the troops. Since Kiev is experiencing a bad shortage of personnel, in the event of a soldier's flight, cases are mostly initiated under the article on the unauthorized abandonment of a unit.