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The General Military Prosecutor’s Office has initiated 11,000 criminal proceedings for desertion and unauthorized military service abandonment since 2014, reports UNN citing the office’s answer for the request.

‘During 2014-2018 (as of September 2018), the investigators of the military prosecutor's offices completed the pretrial investigation on referring to the court 11,292 indictments on the grounds of crimes under articles 407 (unauthorized abandonment of duty, - 112.international), 408 (desertion, - 112.international), 409 (military service evasion, - 112.international) of the Criminal Code against 11,316 people,’ reads the report.

Besides, 66 petitions were filed with the court in respect of 66 people for exemption from criminal liability.

Earlier, we reported that 68% of the conscripts did not show up at military enlistment offices in Uzhgorod, western Ukraine.

'1,377 conscripts are due to show up at the military enlistment office, and about a hundred of them should be enlisted for compulsory military service. Currently, one of the major issues is the failure to show up at the enlistment office; 68 % of young men did not show up,' reads the message on the website of the local city council.

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The evasion from military duty envisages administrative and criminal responsibility; the first act of evasion results in a fine in the amount from five to seven personal exemptions, the second one - in the amount from 10 to 15 personal exemptions. The toughest legal measure of punishment, in this case, is three years-long imprisonment.

The autumn military draft began on October 1 and will be running through December 31. It was supposed to end in November, but the General Staff of the Armed Forces admitted the term was extended until December because the National Guard and the State Border Guard need to man the active duty units.