The Ministry of Defense and the Territorial Recruitment Center deny that they deliberately mobilized Trukha owner Lavrinenko

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense and representatives of the Territorial Recruitment Center have refuted claims made by Maksym Lavrynenko, the owner of the “Truha” network of Telegram channels, that his detention and transfer to the Territorial Recruitment Center took place on the personal orders of Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov. 

The ministry emphasized that the document check was conducted as part of routine mobile patrols and that the Defense Ministry leadership had not issued any specific instructions regarding individual citizens. 

According to official data, Lavrinenko was stopped by a joint patrol of the TCC and the National Police on June 5 for a routine check of his military registration documents, during which no legal grounds were found for a deferment or exemption from mobilization, prompting his transfer to the agency for procedural processing. 

Lavrynenko himself publicly linked the military’s actions to pressure against him stemming from the announced investigation into corruption schemes in the field of defense procurement. In response, the Ministry of Defense stated that a coordinated information attack against the ministry had begun, which intensified immediately after the adoption of a series of tough anti-corruption measures that blocked illegal channels of profit from military tenders.

Source: Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

The Security Service of Ukraine, in cooperation with the National Police, has thwarted new schemes to evade mobilization. According to law enforcement officials, eight such schemes have been uncovered in various regions of the country, and 14 organizers have been detained. Among those involved are a bank employee, representatives of the Territorial Recruitment Center, bloggers, and individuals with prior criminal convictions.

People’s Deputy Heorhiy Mazurashu stated that in Bukovina, a German citizen who had come to Ukraine to visit relatives was drafted into the army during mobilization.