Prosecutor General's Office Restricts Access to Data on SZH and Desertion in Ukraine: What Are the Reasons?

The Office of the prosecutor general announced restrictions on access to information about military criminal offences, including unauthorised absence from duty (UAD) and desertion. This is stated in the post, published by the department.

The OPG noted that such offenses fall into the category of restricted information.

The Office called the restriction of access to such information a "forced and legitimate step" taken to "protect national security; prevent the use of such data against Ukraine; maintain stability and confidence in the Defense Forces in times of war" and "counteract the information and psychological operations of the aggressor state."

"Providing or publishing information about criminal offenses against the established procedure for military service during martial law poses risks to national security," the agency said.

According to him, this information can be used to:

→ discrediting the Defense Forces;

→ forming "false conclusions about the moral and psychological state of military personnel",

→ assessment of the level of discipline and combat capability of units and the system of mobilization;

→ as an instrument of information and psychological operations against Ukraine to undermine confidence in the military leadership and the state's defense capabilities.

The OPG states that the dissemination of even generalized statistics on the number of such offenses can "cause significant damage to defense activities and information security," in particular by creating "a favorable environment for manipulation and hostile propaganda."

The agency added that, according to the law, access to public information is allowed if three criteria are met: exclusively in the interests of national security, territorial integrity or public safety; if disclosure may "cause significant damage to these interests"; if the harm from disclosure outweighs the public interest in obtaining this information.

In the opinion of the OPG, in the case of military criminal offenses, these conditions are "fully met".

In general, the Office added, generalized statistics (current and previous since the full-scale invasion of Russia) on military criminal offenses, as well as data on the perpetrators of such offenses and information from the documents of the prosecutor's office related to this category of crimes, are subject to restrictions during martial law.

"This also applies to the restriction of their publication on the official information resources of the prosecutor's office," the statement said.

The agency also pointed out that these restrictions were introduced only for the period of martial law.

• In October, the OPG reported LIGA.net that from January 2022 to August 2025, more than 270,000 criminal proceedings were initiated in Ukraine under articles on unauthorized abandonment of units and desertion, but only 5% of them went to court.