The court chose a preventive measure for the military serviceman Hnezdilov, who publicly announced about AWOL

The court chose a preventive measure for the military serviceman Hnezdilov, who publicly announced about AWOL

In Kyiv, a court has chosen a preventive measure for serviceman of the 56th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade, Serhiy Hnezdilov, who publicly announced his unauthorized departure from service (AWOL). The serviceman was taken into custody for two months.

The decision was made by the Pechersk Court on Friday, October 11, reports Radio Liberty. Law enforcement detained Hnezdilov on October 9, and his actions were qualified as desertion (Part 4, Article 408 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

Hnezdilov’s lawyer, Oleksandr Shadrin, stated that the arrest of his client was unlawful. Earlier, the lawyer mentioned the possibility of bail and asked to consider the context: Hnezdilov went to the front at the age of 19, signing a contract with the Armed Forces of Ukraine for 3 years, and was supposed to be discharged in March 2022. Furthermore, Serhiy is not yet 25 years old.

People who supported the serviceman came to the session, holding posters with inscriptions like "Not a deserter, but AWOL," "Serhiy has been shouting at the front since 2019, the authorities don’t hear the voice of the military," "Service terms are a right to life for our Heroes."

As reported by the publication, before the session, Hnezdilov announced that he would go on a hunger strike if a law on demobilization is not developed and adopted. According to him, if the document is adopted, he is ready to return to service.

"Defending the country is my duty. You can see how much time I spent on the ’zero line’ and how much on leave. A person cannot stay in such conditions without further rehabilitation for so long. We will fill the prisons with servicemen whom we tell we can’t provide them with service terms. I acted to draw attention to the problem," Hnezdilov noted.

The serviceman also emphasized in court that AWOL is a criminal offense but urged to solve problems instead of ignoring them.