Ukrainian soldiers call it SZCh — samovilne zalyshennya chastyny, leaving a unit without authorisation. It is written about as though returning to service automatically closes the case. It does not. Returning and the criminal proceedings are two parallel roads, and confusing them costs people years.

What counts as absence, and from which day

The offence covers leaving a military unit or place of service without authorisation, and also failing to report for duty on time without a valid reason. What matters legally is not the moment a person left, but the moment they were due to be somewhere and were not.

The threshold is three days. An absence of up to three days is a disciplinary matter. Beyond three days it becomes a criminal offence and the commanding officer is obliged to report it.

Valid reasons do exist — illness, detention by law enforcement, force majeure. But they do not work on their own: each has to be evidenced. A discharge summary, a certificate, a detention record gathered at the time decides a case far better than explanations offered afterwards.

Absence or desertion — the distinction that decides everything

This is the first thing to establish in any case. The two offences look alike and differ in a single element: purpose.

Scroll the diagram →

Intent cannot be observed directly, so investigators read it from the circumstances. Forged documents, leaving the country, a change of address, a destroyed SIM card, complete loss of contact with the unit — all count against. Contact maintained, attempts to resolve the matter by formal report, a visit to a doctor — any trace showing the person did not disappear — count in favour.

Returning to service does not close the criminal case

This is the most common misunderstanding we encounter. A soldier returns, serves on, and months later receives a summons from an investigator with no idea where it came from.

The explanation is simple. Once the commanding officer files the report, the matter is entered into the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations. It is never entered back out. The proceedings take on a life of their own and end either in closure or in court.

The simplified return procedure

The procedure is set out in Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 767 of 12 June 2026. It covers members of the Armed Forces, the National Guard and the State Special Transport Service whose absence was recorded before 12 June 2026.

Its main advantage is that the soldier chooses the branch, the position and the unit, instead of being assigned wherever there is a vacancy.

How the return works

01 Application through the Army+ app or directly to a unit You pick a unit and a position from those available

02 Document check — up to 7 days Unit representatives verify the details

03 Approval, status changes to "en route" From this point you are officially travelling to your place of service

04 Arrival at the unit — 5 days 96 hours for the National Guard

05 Final day to apply — 20 September 2026 After that the general rules apply, with no choice of unit

What happens while the absence continues

• A search is opened. The person is placed on a wanted list and the data enters police bulletins and databases. A checkpoint stop, a hospital visit or any contact with the police produces a match.
• A restraint measure can be imposed in absentia. The investigating judge may hear the motion without the person present if they could not be notified.
• Pay stops from the day the absence is recorded.
• The person remains a serviceman. They are not struck off the rolls and service does not simply end. "Getting a job and moving on" is therefore not available: the status remains, and time works against them.
• Every month in hiding worsens the classification. The longer the absence lasts and the more effort goes into not being found, the easier it becomes for the investigation to prove a purpose to evade service permanently — that is, desertion.

On the word "amnesty"

It is the most searched word alongside SZCh, and it misleads. There is no amnesty for unauthorised absence. An amnesty is a separate act of parliament releasing defined categories of convicted persons. No such act has been adopted for these offences.

What people call an amnesty is either a procedure for returning to service or the scope for mitigation in a particular case. Confusing the two is dangerous: a person returns "under the amnesty" and six months later receives an indictment, convinced they were deceived.

What to do

In short

The offence begins on the fourth day of absence. Article 407 differs from desertion in one element — purpose — and that is what the case is fought over. Returning to service does not close the proceedings, but it strongly shapes their outcome. An application under the simplified procedure, with your own choice of unit, can be filed until 20 September 2026. And the earlier a lawyer enters the case, the more options remain in it.