"What crime did I commit? I had family problems!" exclaimed Konstantin, who deserted from the Ukrainian army. "By the way," he added, "the crime is that I never received rehabilitation or compensation when I was wounded!"
Konstantin is one of about 21.000 Ukrainian soldiers who were classified as deserters and who voluntarily returned to military service in March to avoid prosecution.
At the beginning of the year, Ukraine registered around 123.000 investigations against soldiers who left their unit without permission or deserted.
The number of soldiers deserting their posts increased so much in 2023 and 2024 that authorities were only able to complete investigations in about seven percent of cases. This led to a tacit agreement under which authorities promised not to prosecute deserters, provided that commanders persuaded them to return.
The deal was enacted into law in the fall of 2024, when parliament allowed both draft dodgers and deserters to register with the military and avoid prosecution. Ukrainian laws were changed in December, giving soldiers until January 1, 2025, and that deadline was later extended to March.
Soldier Yevgenij: "I've been fighting for ten years"
"My name is Yevgeny. I am a soldier in the Ukrainian army. I am returning to duty after desertion," said the 38-year-old who is currently training in the 59th Assault Brigade, which is fighting on the front line in Pokrovsk.
"I'm from Mariupol and I've been fighting for ten years. The war destroyed me, it took everything away from me - my entire family. But I'm resilient... and I have a deep sense of justice," Yevgeny said.
He had previously deserted from his unit, the 109th Territorial Defense Brigade, which he joined when Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
"I had problems with my former commander. He didn't like me and kept sending me on suicide missions - but I always came back. Then I deserted," he explained.
Yevgenij says he lived in Dnipro for a month and a half, where he found an illegal job. "I took a little break, because I haven't had a vacation in years," he added.
He eventually turned himself in to the military police. "I told them I had left without permission and that I wanted to return," he said. The very next day, he and others like him were transferred to a reserve battalion, where recruits from different brigades regularly arrive. In the end, he decided to join the 59th Assault Brigade and was soon returned to the front.
"I have to fight. I'm a soldier to the core," Yevgeny said when asked what motivated him to return. "When you're sent from the front to some big city... it's very strange and hard to watch life go on."
"Outside, it's as if there's no war at all. Shops, restaurants... Maybachs, jeeps, Porsches... people are living their lives and don't understand what's happening at the front," he added.
Commander of "Beli": "The situation has improved in recent months"
Yevgeny is training with about a dozen other deserters who have returned to the army. Their commander, known by the nickname "White", shows understanding for his new soldiers, who he says have in most cases had legitimate reasons for temporarily leaving duty.
"Replacements often cannot be found, so soldiers are stuck at the front indefinitely, or have to go home to deal with family problems," the commander said, adding that it also happens that soldiers are wrongly recorded as deserters after they have been to the doctor but have not returned to the unit within 48 hours.
The commander also points out that deserters who return take their duties seriously - if they are treated like any other soldier. "Most have already served and been in combat. They are better trained than new recruits. They are also more motivated. It is easier to work with them," he said.
The new recruits were deployed to Bely's brigade last fall, when the Russians stepped up attacks on Pokrovsk. At the time, he told DW that they were poorly trained and lacked fighting spirit. Many deserted at the time, he says, but the situation has improved in the past three months as more soldiers have returned to duty.
Commander Gorodecki: "The main problem is exhaustion"
"The acts they committed fall under the criminal code, but that doesn't mean they are bad soldiers," said Roman Horodecki, an officer in charge of psychological support in the 68th Rifle Brigade, which is also stationed on the front near Pokrovsk.
Gorodecki says that about 30 percent of soldiers return to duty after desertion, half of them to their original unit.
In his opinion, although the army treats returning soldiers well, it still fails to address the root causes of mass desertion.
"The main problem is physical and psychological exhaustion, but it is currently impossible to change anything about that," he said.
Soldier Milka: "War is like a drug"
Among those who returned was a 42-year-old soldier named Milka. He would not say why he had been on the run, only noting that it had not happened at the front, but far behind the lines of battle, where he had been sent after being wounded.
"Why did I come back? How can I explain it? War is like a drug. If you've been to war before, something pulls you to come back," Milka said. "It's not that I miss the explosions, not at all. I don't know how to explain it."
Milka has now been assigned to the 68th Brigade, where he will be tasked with training soldiers. He says his mood has improved significantly and he has been "recharged with energy" during his time at home.
"I'm not even thinking about vacation," he said. "But what I really want to do is take off this uniform, pour gasoline on it and set it on fire. And then put on a tracksuit, take my kids by the hand and go for a walk. That's my dream."
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