Went AWOL and Corrupted a Minor — Court in Prykarpattia Sentences a Soldier

The Kosiv District Court of Ivano-Frankivsk region sentenced a 48-year-old mobilized serviceman who left his place of service without permission and engaged in relations with a 15-year-old girl while away from the unit.

Case circumstances

According to case materials No. 347/2247/25, the man was drafted for military service by mobilization in April 2025. He was assigned as a machine gunner in an assault squad of one of the military units.

During his service, the serviceman was wounded and underwent inpatient treatment at a military hospital in Kharkiv. On July 17, 2025, he was discharged from the hospital due to violation of hospital rules. After that, he was supposed to return to the temporary location of the unit near Pokrovsk, Donetsk region.

However, the man did not return to the unit. According to court materials, he was unlawfully absent from the military unit's location from July 19 to August 6, 2025.

During this period, the soldier engaged in sexual relations with a 15-year-old fellow villager. According to the court, the meetings took place in the man's house and in the cabin of his car.

In court, the accused fully admitted guilt for failing to appear for service. Regarding the sexual relations with the minor, he partially admitted guilt, claiming he allegedly did not know the exact age of the girl. At the same time, the man confirmed that he had long been acquainted with her and her mother, as they were neighbors.

The victim told the court that she had known the man for about three years and confirmed regular meetings. According to her, the initiator of communication was mostly the soldier. At the same time, during the case consideration, she and her legal representative submitted a statement requesting not to consider claims about threats, as the meetings, according to them, were voluntary.

The girl's mother said that her daughter had disappeared from home several times at night and returned early in the morning, after which she admitted to spending time with this man. She emphasized that the defendant was fully aware of her child's age.

The forensic psychiatric examination recognized the man as fully sane, capable of understanding and controlling his actions.

Court decision

The court found the man guilty of committing two criminal offenses. Under Part 1 of Article 155 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, he was sentenced to three years of restriction of liberty, and under Part 5 of Article 407 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — five years of imprisonment.

According to Part 1 of Article 70 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, the court determined the final punishment by merging the less severe punishment into the more severe one. As a result, the man was sentenced to five years of imprisonment.

The court also emphasized that in this case, the application of Articles 69 or 75 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine regarding milder punishment or release from serving with probation is legally impossible.

Additionally, the court partially satisfied the civil claim filed by the victim's representative and ordered the convicted man to pay the girl 70,000 UAH as compensation for moral damage.

As previously reported by the Judicial and Legal Newspaper, the Husiatyn District Court of Ternopil region sentenced a man to five and a half years of imprisonment. A resident of Chortkiv illegally cut down trees in a reserve, was AWOL, and stole a neighbor's phone.

Prosecutors proved that in early February 2024, the accused, without any permits, sawed several hornbeam trees in a forest area within a general zoological reserve using a chainsaw. To transport the wood from the forest, he borrowed a tractor with a trailer from a neighbor.