On July 1st 1917, on the Eastern Front of World War I, in Ternopil, Ukraine, a Russian soldier with a rifle and bayonet threatened two demoralized Russian soldiers who had deserted from the Russian army to return to the battlefield.

 　On July 1st 1917, on the Eastern Front of World War I, in Ternopil, Ukraine, a Russian soldier with a rifle and bayonet threatened two demoralized Russian soldiers who had deserted from the Russian army to return to the battlefield.　Desertion is the act of deserting from a military unit while on the march or in a location, or leaving a combat position, in order to avoid participating in combat or war. In armies of all times and countries, desertion has always existed, both in the past and today.

　　The First World War was one of the bloodiest wars in human history. More than 9 million soldiers and millions of civilians were killed on all sides. Tens of millions of soldiers were injured and maimed, and it was unclear whether they had even set out to fight in the war. Soldiers were sacrificed at the whim of the emperor, without knowing why. Soldiers, including officers, deserted while on the move. Soldiers were to be in the rear of the army, wandering about and not going to the front. The number of deserters in the Russian army during World War I was reported to be about 195,000 deserters during the war.

　　In the Russian Empire, military criminal law defined desertion from military service as leaving military service without permission. The subject of desertion was any military personnel, regardless of whether they were conscripted or volunteered. The criminal act of desertion is the intention to leave one's post and leaving one's place of service without permission. Article 128 of the Russian military regulations of the 19th century stated that “the absence of a serviceman without permission, which lasts longer than six days in peacetime and longer than three days in wartime, is considered to be desertion”. Considering the enemy, for all servicemen, an absence of more than 24 hours is considered to be desertion from duty. The punishment for deserting from duty during service is made dependent on various conditions. Special circumstances that aggravate the crime are stipulated, and finally, special exceptions for the punishment of repeat offenders and instigators are introduced.