The Gen Staff has introduced changes that make it inappropriate to commit an AWOL for transfer to another military unit

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has changed the mechanisms for transferring military personnel between units, making it inappropriate to leave a unit without permission in the hope of being transferred to a chosen unit. About this reported General Staff.

The General Staff claims that it is taking steps to simplify the mechanisms for moving military personnel between units and to move away from the "paper army." A simplified mechanism has been introduced for sending a letter of recommendation for a military from the unit to which he or she wishes to transfer to the unit where he or she is serving in an electronic form.

The introduced mechanism guarantees that the letter will be considered by the unit commander as soon as possible, the General Staff emphasized.

As a result, the soldier will not need to send a letter to lower-level commanders (squad, platoon, company, battalion), which reduces subjective factors in decision-making and the number of approvals by heads of structural units.

In addition, the mechanism for appointing servicemen who have returned from the Joint Forces Operation to positions in new military units has been simplified. The amendments eliminate intermediate links in the processing of documents, including the army corps, operational command, etc. Documents for appointment are submitted directly from the unit to the General Staff.

These steps are aimed at speeding up the appointment of military personnel, making the process of their transfer more transparent and eliminating manipulations by certain officials to obstruct such transfers.

The introduced changes do not change the conditions for returning to service after the CCD.

"At the same time, it should be noted that these changes make it inappropriate for servicemen to commit high treason with the hope of being transferred to a chosen military unit," the statement said.

Letters of recommendation, which are now becoming purely electronic, should not be a way to transfer from a combat brigade performing tasks in the active frontline to a military unit with more comfortable conditions of service.

The General Staff emphasized that there are other legal instruments for transferring between units, not the SCP.

At the same time, they emphasized that the soldiers who returned to reserve battalions after the NWP are being sent to all combat brigades that need replenishment, including airborne and assault units.

Previously hromadske wrote that soldiers who had committed SGM could voluntarily return to their unit. Otherwise, they will be transferred to reserve battalions, where they will be assigned to priority recruitment units. According to media reports, some brigades have already received a warning.

• In October, the CSO 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.
• On December 10, the prosecutor's office stated about access restrictions access to information on military criminal offenses, in particular, on SZH and desertion.