In Ukraine, during a complete Russian invasion – from 2022 to July 2025 – more than 200,000 cases were discovered for unauthorized leave and more than 50,000 desertion cases.
This was reported by the publication “Ukrainian Pravda” with reference to the response of the Office of the Prosecutor General.
It was noted that in the “United Report on Criminal Crimes”, Article 407 of the Criminal Code (unauthorized leave of a military unit or a place of service) was registered:
- In 2022, 6 thousand 988 proceedings (347 of them in January-February);
- in 2023 – 17 thousand 658 proceedings;
- In 2024 – 67 thousand 840 proceedings.
- For seven months of 2025, 110 thousand 511 proceedings have already been registered.
Thus, after the beginning of a complete invasion of Russia, the number of cases opened by the HCP is 202 thousand 997, 15 thousand 564 of them were informed of suspicion.
According to Article 408 (desertion) from 2022 to July 2025, 50 thousand 58 criminal proceedings were registered, for 1 thousand 248 proceedings were notified of suspicion.
Source: “Ukrainian Truth”
Source: Racurs
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.