You're reading: Ukrainian prosecutors have opened 480 criminal cases since start of military operation, mostly related to desertion

  Ukrainian prosecutors in charge of supervising observance of law in the military field have opened more than 480 criminal cases since the start of a military operation in eastern Ukraine, most of which concern evasion of military service, Pavlo Bohutsky, the Southern Region prosecutor for supervision of law in military field, has said.

“Investigations into 145 criminal offences have been completed, and indictment acts on them have been forwarded to courts. More than half of these acts concern people who have deserted, refused to perform military service duties, or committed disobedience,” Bohutsky said at a conference of chiefs of military law enforcement agencies of the Southern Region of Ukraine that took place in Dnipropetrovsk on Friday.

Courts have convicted over 30 people in these cases, he said.

At the same time, military prosecutors have helped restore social rights of more than 700 servicemen, he said.