MOSCOW, September 11. /TASS/. The Ukrainian armed forces are seeing a big rise in the number of cases of servicemen going absent without leave (AWOL), the Ukrainskaya Pravda newspaper reported citing a Ukrainian officer.

The officer, who serves in the psychological support service, noted that the number of servicemen going AWOL has increased significantly after the Verkhovna Rada passed a law that lightened the penalty for this offense.

"There are not enough people in the units, so almost no one gets a leave. Many believe that going AWOL is their only option," he said.

Other widespread issues in the Ukrainian ranks are drug abuse and alcohol and gambling addiction. Another military psychologist told the newspaper that Ukrainian troops have started coming in with complaints about hallucinations more often this year.

On August 20, the Verkhovna Rada passed a law that makes it possible not to punish servicemen who desert or go AWOL, as long as they return to service before the preliminary investigation is over. According to the accompanying memo, a deserter could be absolved of responsibility if they state their desire to return to their unit either to the investigator or the prosecutor, and if their commander agrees. Such rules will remain in effect during martial law.

On August 23, Oles Doniy, head of the Center for Research of Political Values, Kiev, noted that the Ukrainian authorities have registered 37,000 cases of desertion and absence without leave since the beginning of this year, but the actual number of such cases is twice as high.