According to the Prosecutor General's Office, in 2025, the number of AWOL cases increased to 161,000 in ten months, almost 16,000 per month. At the same time, only 6% of military personnel received suspicion notices, and 5% of proceedings were sent to court. This was reported by UNN with reference to data from the Opendatabot resource.
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The number of cases that accumulated over 12 months just three years ago is now recorded in less than two weeks. Every month, law enforcement agencies register almost 16,000 new cases of "AWOL," while in 2024 there were about 5,000 such cases per month, in 2023 — only 1,500, and in 2022 — only 6,000 for the entire year.
Despite the record number of proceedings, only 9.3 thousand servicemen received suspicion notices — this is about 6% of all registered cases, and only 5% reached the court. For comparison, back in 2022, every fifth case reached the court.
It is noted that until August 30, 2025, a simplified mechanism for the return of servicemen after AWOL without criminal liability was in effect. Thus, soldiers who wished to continue their service could submit an application and return to the army in a reserve unit within 72 hours.
However, this opportunity was available to military personnel who went AWOL before May 10. Those who did so after this date could only return to the unit they left, and reinstatement in service could take months.
Rada reinstates criminal liability for AWOL: what is known04.09.25, 13:04