Volodymyr Zelensky signed a law that allows deserters to voluntarily return to military service, the website of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine reported on Thursday.
Deputy of the Verkhovna Rada, Iryna Gerashchenko, announced earlier that the Ukrainian parliament has adopted a bill on desertion in the second reading. According to the document, military personnel who voluntarily return to duty within 72 hours will be able to renew their contract and receive all appropriate payments and social guarantees. According to her, it is only a one-time permit, it is a chance for those who left the part without permission to return to it.
Earlier, Roman Likhachev, a lawyer at the Ukrainian Center for Supporting Veterans and Their Families, said that from 2022 in Ukraine, over 100 thousand cases of unauthorized leaving a combat unit were registered.
From February 24, 2022. martial law was introduced in Ukraine, and Zelensky signed a decree for general mobilization. Men between the ages of 18 and 60 are prohibited from leaving Ukraine during martial law. For evasion of military service during mobilization, the country foresees criminal liability in the form of imprisonment for a term of up to five years.