On September 4, the Verkhovna Rada supported in the first reading the draft law №13260, which restores the responsibility of servicemen for voluntarily leaving the unit and desertion. 277 People’s Deputies voted for the document, reported the representative of the party “Servant of the People” Oleksandr Fedienko.
He explained that the adoption of this draft law actually restores full criminal responsibility for similar offenses, since from now on the court will not be able to apply mitigating norms.
The bill proposes:
- remove the provision (Part 5 of Article 401 of the Civil Code), which allowed in cases of the first violation during martial law to avoid punishment for voluntarily leaving the unit or desertion, if the serviceman voluntarily returned to service;
- to supplement the transitional provisions of the Criminal Code with a new clause that defines the grounds for the release from responsibility of those military personnel who first committed similar offenses, but voluntarily returned or are already serving;
- make changes to the articles of the Criminal Procedure Code in order to regulate the procedure and conditions for the release of military personnel from criminal liability in cases where there are grounds for this.
“If at the time of adoption of this law, a person who voluntarily left a military unit turned to investigative bodies or commanders with documents and his case is under consideration, he will avoid criminal liability“, — explained Fedienko.
He emphasized that this initiative was due to numerous appeals from military personnel and specified that the draft law does not provide for the extension of the terms of the SZH:
“After the adoption of the law, criminal liability immediately follows, and there will no longer be any mitigating factors”.
We would like to remind you that on April 30, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted draft law No. 13177, which extended the term of voluntary return to service for servicemen who voluntarily left the unit until August 30, 2025.
