SBI calls for support for return to service of soldiers who left units without permission for the first time

The State Bureau of Investigation is actively engaged in identifying servicemen who have left their units without permission for the first time and facilitating their return to service. Recent amendments to the Criminal Code of Ukraine give courts the ability to make decisions that allow such soldiers to return to duty.

According to the SBI, in October alone, courts in regions such as Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Volyn, Zakarpattia and Ternopil issued around one hundred decisions allowing soldiers to continue serving instead of imprisonment. Each of these decisions is the result of the diligent work of SBI staff, who are working to ensure that servicemen who once violated the order can return to the Armed Forces.

The SBI reminds that unauthorised leaving of a military unit or place of service in combat conditions without good reason is punishable by imprisonment for up to 10 years. However, military personnel who commit such an offence for the first time have a chance to return to duty.

For example, the Frankivsk District Court of Lviv ruled on a serviceman who left his place of service in Donetsk region in March 2024. During the investigation, SBI officers established his whereabouts and detained him. The man admitted his mistake, explaining that he could not withstand the workload after a long stay on the front line, but expressed a desire to return to service. In view of this, the court released him from criminal liability.

A similar decision was made by the Volodymyr-Volyn City Court, which released a soldier who left his unit in Volyn last November. The man repented and received a written consent from his commander to be reinstated in service, which became the basis for the court’s decision to release him from criminal liability.

Thus, thanks to the SBI’s efforts and the support of the judicial system, servicemen who have made mistakes are given the opportunity to atone for them by returning to the Armed Forces to continue their service.