Ukraine hopes to coax back thousands of AWOL troops with their choice of commander and deployment area
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- Ukraine's return program says it's letting AWOL troops choose from over 70 units for redeployment.
- The missing soldiers can indicate their preferences for where they want to serve and in what roles.
- It's an attempt to solve the hundreds of thousands of AWOL cases it's suffered since the war began.
Ukraine is giving its missing troops a bonus for rejoining the war: The chance to choose their new area of deployment, commander, and job.
Kyiv's defense ministry said on Friday that it would allow troops who are absent without leave, or AWOL, to choose from over 70 units across its three ground branches if they redeploy.
The announcement is an expansion of a voluntary return program, launched in June, that aims to coax tens of thousands of AWOL troops back within 100 days. That's a priority for Ukraine, which has struggled to keep its ranks filled for years, reinforcing a vicious cycle where its remaining, outnumbered troops grow increasingly fatigued.
The program "allows you to choose a new military unit from a specified list, indicate your desired direction of service and previous experience, receive support from the contact center, and arrive immediately at the new unit," the ministry said in its Friday announcement.
Troops have until September 20 to apply for their return, it added.
Social media has made it common for Ukrainian commanders and units to have their own reputations for the survival rate and welfare of their troops. That's made some units far more popular than others.
Mobile phones are a common sight on the battlefield in Ukraine.Dmytro Smolienko/Ukrinform/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Still, the defense ministry appeared to add a caveat — there's no guarantee a soldier will get their preferred unit or role.
"At the same time, the number of positions in individual areas is limited, so those who have already decided on a unit, area of service, and desired position should not delay submitting a report," its statement said.
But the ministry has repeatedly sought this year to assure soldiers that its new systems are designed with common sense, not bureaucracy, in mind, preventing troops from falling through the cracks.
"Drivers, UAV operators, clerks, shooters — the army needs everyone," said Mstislav Banik, deputy minister for defense.
Led until recently by the maverick Mykhailo Fedorov, the ministry has tried to radically modernize its military's structure and retain troops.
Previously, an AWOL soldier had to report to the military law enforcement service to officially register their absence, which is punishable by up to 10 years in prison. They would have then been sent to a reserve battalion, where they could be redeployed to their new unit.
But the new program skips all of that, the ministry said, instead sending troops directly to their preferred unit. Once there, they'll be blocked from involuntary transfer to another unit for six months.
Instead of reporting to the military police, the AWOL troops can apply to rejoin the war via a website or Ukraine's military mobile app, Army+, officials added.
Fedorov said in January that Ukraine had logged over 200,000 AWOL cases since the war began. That figure may, however, be significantly inflated by an administrative loophole that allowed disgruntled troops to dodge the red tape of transferring units by going AWOL.
Ukraine also recently raised troop salary ceilings dramatically, with assault soldiers able to earn over six figures a year depending on how frequently they fought.
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