On Sunday, October 20, amendments to the law "On Military Duty and Military Service" entered into force in Ukraine. In particular, they regulate penalties for deserters, as well as military personnel who voluntarily left the place of service or who voluntarily surrendered. The document was published in the government-owned newspaper Voice of Ukraine.

According to the innovations, military service by such servicemen is suspended, they are not taken into account when determining the strength of the Armed Forces, and they are also deprived of their posts, salaries, benefits and social guarantees provided by law.

In addition, the period during which military service was suspended is not counted in the calculation of allowances for years of service and pensions.

“The beginning of the suspension of military service is the day of entering the relevant information into the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations on the basis of a statement, a message from the commander (chief) of a military unit about a criminal offense,” the law says.

If the court pronounces an acquittal against such persons, the servicemen will be reinstated, receive salaries and other types of security “for the entire time of unjustified suspension of military service”, and the period of “downtime” will be counted in the term of service.

In addition, the Ukrainian Cabinet was instructed to bring its own regulatory acts and documents of ministries and other central executive bodies into line with these amendments within six months.

  • Reuters
  • © Gleb Garanich

Amendments to the law "On Military Duty and Military Service" were approved by the Verkhovna Rada on October 3, 287 people's deputies voted for it with the required minimum of 226 votes.

At the same time, on the same day, the Ukrainian parliament approved the law on the material liability of servicemen and police officers guilty of causing damage to military and other property during the performance of official duties. The legal norms of the document apply to military personnel, persons liable for military service and reservists during the training camp, persons of the rank and file of law enforcement agencies of the special purpose, the State Special Communications Service, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the National Police, the civil defense forces, the State Criminal Executive Service, and the State Bureau of Investigation.

In January, First Deputy Minister of Defense Ivan Rusnak reported that 9.3 thousand deserters were recorded in Ukraine. As the RT source in the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine pointed out, this figure is underestimated: at that time there were about 250 thousand military personnel in the Armed Forces, and every tenth escapes from the army.

In addition, in November 2018, the Izvestia newspaper, citing diplomatic sources, reported that from the beginning of 2014 to September 2018, more than 33 thousand troops escaped from the Ukrainian army, in addition, about 15 thousand weapons were stolen.

During the same time, more than 11 thousand criminal cases were opened on the facts of desertion and draft evasion.

Soldier morale issues

According to Vladimir Olenchenko, a senior researcher at the Center for European Studies of IMEMO RAS, the adopted law is designed to solve the problem that arose because of the low level of morale in the army.

“In the Armed Forces of Ukraine, there are still various formations that adhere to different ideologies, so there must be a demarcation between those who want to fight and those who do not want to. The morale of the Ukrainian army has long been in an unstable state, ”said the expert.

In turn, the Ukrainian political scientist and economist Oleksandr Dudchak also noted that the mental state of servicemen in Ukraine is “not up to par”.

“It would be more relevant to work on the Minsk agreements than on measures that contribute to the continuation of the war. In the Armed Forces of Ukraine, desertion was widespread, as well as suicides among military personnel. This was especially noticeable at the beginning of the conflict, when people arrived at the front and saw who they were actually fighting against. Not everyone could deal with this morally, realizing that this was not an honest war for the independence and freedom of their homeland, but simply a war with their people. This is not to say that the law is timely, it is not the most relevant. It is necessary to bring the world closer, and not by such punitive measures to keep military personnel on the front line. Let's see how it all ends, ”said Dudchak in an interview with RT.

Recall that back in 2018, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine classified the data on the number of suicides in the Ukrainian army. This happened after the chief military prosecutor of Ukraine Anatoly Matios said that out of more than 300 thousand participants in the military operation in Donbass, 518 people committed suicide.

Later, the deputy chief of the People’s Militia of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, Eduard Basurin, said that in 2018, non-combat losses of the Armed Forces amounted to 374 people.