He deserted the service twice: he tried to return via the Third Assault Unit but was sentenced to 5 years in prison

Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi City District Court of Odesa Oblast 26 May 2026 found guilty a serviceman who did not appear on time to the unit and was absent from service for over 2 months. The man was sentenced to 5 years imprisonment under part 5 of Art. 407 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — failure to appear for duty on time in conditions of martial law. This is stated in the verdict in case No. 495/8692/25.

According to the court materials, the accused Man was a soldier, served under mobilization and held the position of driver-line supervisor of technical means of security and defense at military unit NUMBER_1.

The court found that at 09:00 on 24 July 2025 the serviceman did not appear at the unit of the military part, which is located at an address that is not disclosed during martial law. After that, he, in the court’s wording, spent his time at his own discretion and did not associate it with performing military service duties.

This continued until 15 October 2025, when the man appeared at an institution located in the Prymorskyi district of the city of Odesa. The court counted this period as unlawful absence from service.

In the court hearing the man fully admitted his guilt and did not dispute the factual circumstances of the case. He explained that he had been serving since 2023: first at military unit NUMBER_2, and in December 2024 he returned to the reserve battalion NUMBER_1.

The accused told the court that at first service, in his words, went normally, but later the situation changed due to the leadership’s attitude and excessive workloads.

“At the first unit everything was fine at first, and then the commander began to ‘tighten the belts.’ He was on duty for 15–16 hours, then sent to dig, then to the post, and they also received reprimands. If you fell asleep on a post you were given orders. And on duty they stood for 17 hours. And they constantly ordered, removed bonuses. So he left for the weekend and did not return. In July 2025 he was caught by the Military Police (VSP). He was enrolled in the reserve battalion, but he left that one too. He noted that he regrets what he did and repents. He understands that he acted wrongly. He seeks to return to service and has already contacted the Third Assault [unit] to serve there.”

The court recognized sincere remorse as a mitigating circumstance. No aggravating circumstances were established.

At the same time, the court noted that the offense under part 5 of Art. 407 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine is grave, and the current sanction does not provide for an alternative punishment other than imprisonment. In addition, the court specifically stated that in such cases committed under martial law it is impossible to apply a milder punishment under Art. 69 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, as well as release from serving the sentence with probation under Art. 75 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

As a result, he was sentenced to 5 years imprisonment. The preventive measure in the form of detention was left in place until the verdict comes into legal force.

The term of serving the sentence will be counted from the day the verdict comes into legal force. The period of detention from 15 October 2025 until the verdict comes into legal force will be credited to the sentence on a day-for-day basis.

The verdict may be appealed to the Odesa Court of Appeal within 30 days from the day of its pronouncement.

Previously we wrote:

• Court in Mykolaiv gave 5 years to a lieutenant who unlawfully left the unit on the 3rd day
• Interactive map of Ukraine’s “sins”: Mykolaiv region ranks third in Ukraine by SZCh
• “Whoever despises the army — will lose everything”: in the Verkhovna Rada they talked about tougher punishment for SZCh
• Queues at the VLK resulted in 5 years behind bars for the serviceman
• “Home renovation cost freedom”: a volunteer of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was sentenced to 5 years for AWOL