Account and property seizures: Ukraine may toughen penalties for draft evasion

In the Verkhovna Rada, discussions are underway about introducing account and property seizures and other punishments for soldiers who have gone AWOL (absent without leave).

This was reported in an interview with Telegraf by Ruslan Horbenko, a member of the Servant of the People faction and of the parliamentary committee on national security and defense.

According to the lawmaker, more than half of those who go AWOL eventually return to the army, but penalties for such violations may be tightened to prevent future cases.

“To make sure this doesn’t happen again, we need to introduce specific legislative changes regarding punishment. What are the ideas? Freezing bank accounts, seizing property. The law enforcement committee has also proposed increasing prison terms (currently 5–10 years). There are many proposals. We need to sit down with the General Staff and decide what will get the votes and what won’t. Because in the Rada there are supporters of the ‘Party of Rest’ and supporters of the ‘Party of Victory,’ but neither group has a majority,” Horbenko said.

He also noted that about 1.5 million people — officials, security personnel, and critical infrastructure workers — have deferments or exemptions, which creates opportunities for “hidden evasion.”

The MP called it a “populist mistake” to allow young people under 22 to leave the country, saying this contradicts the goals of recruiting 18–24-year-olds, since many go abroad for better-paying jobs.

It should be recalled that, according to official data, around 300,000 soldiers have gone AWOL.

These figures are consistent with estimates by military officer Ihor Lutsenko and MP Maryana Bezuhla, who claim that the actual number of deserters is significantly higher than officially recorded.