Ukraine looks to absconding soldiers to flll its ranks

As Ukraine's military struggles to find enough troops, particularly infantry, to hold off Russia's much larger army, some units are giving a second chance to those who had absconded from service.

Data from the prosecutor's office shows nearly 95,000 criminal cases have been opened since 2022 against soldiers going "absent without leave" (AWOL) and for the more serious crime of battlefield desertion.

The number of cases has risen steeply with each year of the war: Almost two-thirds of the total are from 2024.

With many tens of thousands of troops killed or wounded, it is a depletion that Ukraine can ill afford.

Now, some units are replenishing their ranks by accepting soldiers previously declared AWOL.

One of them is Ukraine's elite 47th Brigade, which published a social media post in November inviting soldiers who had absconded to join it.

"Our aim is to give every soldier the opportunity to come back into the fold and realise his potential," the post announced.

In the first two days, the brigade said, over a hundred applications came in.