In 2025, following motions filed by SBI, courts exempted 10,000 military personnel who had unauthorizedly abandoned military units but returned to duty from criminal liability

Last year, at the request of the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), courts exempted approximately 10,000 military personnel who had gone into self-defense units but voluntarily returned to service from criminal liability.

It was reported by the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), citing a report by Director Oleksii Sukhachov on the agency’s activities in 2025, according to the Ukrainian News agency.

One of the key issues for the SBI remains combating unauthorized desertion from military units. Throughout 2025, the Bureau’s investigators filed approximately 10,000 motions with the courts seeking exemption from criminal liability for service members who voluntarily returned to duty. In terms of numbers, this is equivalent to about three general-purpose brigades.

To efficiently handle requests from military personnel and their relatives, the Bureau has also developed a dedicated information system. In just one month of its operation, nearly 2,000 requests were received from military personnel or their representatives, who, among other things, expressed their intention to return to their units.

According to the director of the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), in 2025, the Bureau’s investigators handled over 355,500 criminal cases. That is more than 800 cases per investigator. “Since the start of the full-scale invasion, the caseload has increased nearly sevenfold and now stands at about 1,300 cases per investigator,” the SBI director noted.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, the number of people who unauthorizedly abandoned military units—after mobilized personnel are first sent to a unit and then to the rear—is approaching zero. There are about two million people in Ukraine evading mobilization and about 290,000 military personnel who have unauthorizedly abandoned their military units. The General Staff has simplified the transfer procedure for returning military personnel from the unauthorized abandonment of military units.