Went AWOL and worked as a drug courier: court sentenced a serviceman in Zakarpattia
Rakhiv District Court of Zakarpattia Oblast sentenced a serviceman who voluntarily left the military unit and was engaged in transporting psychotropic substances. A native of Dnipro was found guilty of unauthorized absence from service and illegal drug trafficking, and was sentenced to 9 years imprisonment with confiscation of all property.
Circumstances of the case
According to case materials No. 305/1582/26, in December 2024 the man voluntarily left the military unit. After that, according to the investigation, he was engaged in delivering narcotic substances to various regions of Ukraine.
On March 12, 2026, while heading to Zakarpattia, the accused left a part of the psychotropic substance Alpha-PVP weighing over 800 grams under a bridge in the village of Ostrytsia, Chernivtsi Oblast. Later, his Honda car was stopped at a checkpoint in the village of Lazeshchyna. During the inspection, law enforcement officers found more than 2.2 kilograms of Alpha-PVP under the hood.
After the arrest, law enforcement also conducted searches in Donetsk, Odesa, Mykolaiv, Vinnytsia, and Chernivtsi regions, through which the man traveled in transit and, according to the investigation, left packages with drugs.
During the trial, the accused admitted his guilt and asked the court not to impose a severe punishment. The court also took into account a negative characteristic from the military unit, according to which he irresponsibly performed his duties and did not observe subordination.
What the court decided
After examining the case materials, the court found the serviceman guilty of unauthorized absence from the military unit and drug trafficking. He was sentenced to 9 years imprisonment with confiscation of all property.
As previously reported by the "Judicial and Legal Newspaper", in Dnipropetrovsk region during a sanctioned search, a man who since September 2024 had the status of a person who voluntarily left the military unit (AWOL), opened aimed fire on police special forces. As a result of the shooting, two KORD special unit fighters were wounded. After that, the man committed suicide.
According to the National Police of Ukraine, the search was conducted within the framework of a criminal proceeding under Part 4 of Article 190 and Part 3 of Article 332 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Investigative actions were carried out by regional police investigators, operatives of the Strategic Investigations Department, and with the force support of the KORD special unit.
According to the police, after armed resistance, the man, while in the house, shot himself in the head. The wounded special forces fighters were hospitalized. They are receiving necessary medical care, and their lives are not in danger.
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