MOSCOW, August 3. /TASS/. Nearly 400,000 AWOL (absent without leave) and desertion cases have been reported in the Ukrainian army, a Ukrainian lawmaker said.

"We see failures on the frontline. We see problems with mobilization. We see AWOL-related problems. We must be aware that the number of AWOL cases is nearing 400,000. However, many return," Anna Skorokhod, a member of the Verkhovna Rada, or parliament, said in an interview with Politeka Online YouTube channel. She did not specify however which time period these figures refer to.

Ukrainian laws discriminated between desertion and AWOL cases, defining desertion as the intention to leave army service for good and absence without leave - for a certain period of time. Hence, desertion is punishable by prison time while those absent without leave are fined and sent back to the army. Since Kiev is faced with an acute shortage of military personnel, most cases are opened on AWOL charges, regardless of how long such "absences" last.