"What crime did I commit? I had family problems!" exclaimed Kosjantyn, who deserted his post in the Ukrainian army. "By the way," he added, "it's a crime that I never received rehab or compensation when I was wounded!"

Kosjantyn is just one of the roughly 21,000 Ukrainian soldiers classified as deserters who voluntarily returned to military service in March to avoid legal punishment.

The deadline for returning was set for early March. At the start of the year, Ukraine had registered about 123,000 investigations into soldiers going absent without leave (AWOL) or deserting their units.

Authorities can't keep up with number of deserters

The number of soldiers leaving their posts grew so high in 2023 and 2024 that investigators couldn't keep up, completing inquiries into only about 7% of cases.

That led to the tacit acceptance of a deal in which authorities promised not to prosecute deserters as long as commanders could convince them to return to duty.

The deal was enacted into law in the fall of 2024, when parliament made it possible for draft dodgers and deserters to report back to the army for duty as a way of avoiding prosecution.

Ukraine's laws were changed in December, giving soldiers until January 1, 2025, to comply. The deadline was then extended until March.

Exhaustion and conflict with superiors

"My name's Jewhen. I'm a soldier in the Ukrainian army. I'm reporting back to duty after deserting," said a 38-year-old training with the 59th Assault Brigade, which is fighting on the front lines at the eastern city of Pokrovsk.

"I'm from Mariupol and have been fighting for 10 years. The war has destroyed me, it took everything, my whole family. But I'm tough… and I have a deep sense of justice," said Jewhen.

Jewhen had deserted his unit, the 109th Territorial Defense Brigade, which he first joined when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

"I had problems with my former commander. He didn't like me and used to send me out on suicide missions, but I always came back. Then I deserted," he explained.

Jewhen said he lived in Dnieper for a month and a half and found an illegal job. "I chilled a bit because I hadn't taken a vacation in years," he added.

In the end, he turned himself over to the military police. "I told them that I had been AWOL and that I wanted to return," he said. The next day, he and others like him were taken to a reserve battalion that regularly hosts recruiters from different brigades. In the end, Jewhen decided to join the 59th Assault Brigade and was quickly sent back to the front.

"I have to fight. I'm a soldier from head to toe," said Jewhen when asked what motivated him. "If you're sent from the front to a big city... it's really strange and difficult to see how life goes on.

"From the outside, it's as if there is no war. Shops, restaurants… Maybachs, Jeeps, Porsches … people are living their lives and don't understand what's happening on the front," he added.

Army satisfied to see soldiers return

Jewhen is training with a dozen other deserters who have returned to the army. Their commander, known as Whitey, has empathy for his new soldiers, most of whom he said had good reason for temporarily shirking their duties.

"Often replacements can't be found, so soldiers are stuck at the front indefinitely, or they have to get home to deal with family issues," said the commander, adding that soldiers are sometimes erroneously listed as deserters after they have received medical treatment but haven't returned to their unit within 48 hours.

The commander also said deserters who return are serious about fulfilling their duties if they are treated like any other soldier. "Most have already served and seen combat. They are better trained than new recruits. They're also more motivated. It's easier to work with them," he said.

New recruits were assigned to Whitey's brigade last fall, when the Russians stepped up their push toward Pokrovsk. He told DW at the time that they were poorly trained and lacked fighting spirit.

Many deserted their posts, he said, but the situation has improved over the last three months as more soldiers return to duty.       

Unresolved problems for Ukrainian army

"The acts they have committed fall under the criminal code, but that does not mean they are bad soldiers," said Roman Horodezkyi, an officer responsible for psychological support in the 68th Jaeger Brigade, which is also stationed on the Pokrovsk front. Horodezkyi said about 30% of soldiers return to duty after deserting, and half of those return to their original unit.

Horodezkyi believes that while the army has done a good job dealing with returning soldiers, it is still failing to address the root causes of mass desertion.

"The main problem is physical and psychological exhaustion, but right now it is impossible to change that," he said.

'War is like a drug'

A 42-year-old military man going by the name of Milka was also among those returning. He didn't care to say why he went AWOL, only that it didn't happen on the front but far behind, where he had been sent after being wounded. 

"Why am I going back? How can I explain it? War is like a drug. If you've been to war before, you are drawn to return," said Milka. "It's not like you need the explosions, not at all. I don't know how to explain it."

Milka has been assigned to the 68th, where he will be tasked with training soldiers. He said his own disposition has improved greatly, and that he's "recharged" after the time spent at home.

"I'm not even thinking about vacation," he said. "Still, what I'd really love to do is just strip off this uniform, pour gasoline on it and burn it. Then I'd put on a track suit, take my children by the hand, and go for a walk. That's what I dream of."

This article was originally written in Ukrainian.