Law enforcement officials have uncovered 10 more schemes to evade mobilization
The SBU, the State Bureau of Investigation, and the National Police have shut down 10 networks involved in illegal evasion of mobilization in five regions of Ukraine. As part of the operation, 13 organizers were detained; they had been offering their clients assistance in exchange for money. The cost of such “services” ranged from $2,500 to $30,000.
The perpetrators helped men evade mobilization, facilitated the illegal discharge of military personnel from service, and organized the illegal smuggling of draft dodgers across the state border.
Mykolaiv Oblast
The head of the Department of Children’s Affairs at one of the city councils in the Voznesensk District was exposed for promising, in exchange for $2,500, to help active-duty military personnel be “discharged” from military service.
According to the case file, the suspect helped clients prepare the necessary documents to become guardians of relatives who allegedly required constant care. To do this, he used his personal connections at the district military registration and enlistment office.
In addition, in the Mykolaiv region, the SBU and the National Police detained a mechanic-driver from a military unit who demanded up to 16,000 dollars from the relatives of service members in exchange for their illegal discharge from service on grounds of “poor health.” To carry out the scheme, the suspect planned to use his personal connections among officials at the Medical Examination Commission.
Vinnytsia Oblast
In Vinnytsia, SBU officers, in cooperation with the National Police, exposed two con artists who, for $4,000, promised to use their personal connections at the Territorial Military Commissariat and the Military Registration and Enlistment Office to “resolve the issue” of draft-eligible men evading mobilization.
Also in the city, a fraudster was detained who, for $10,000, sold men forged medical reports with “severe diagnoses” to obtain deferrals from conscription.
To do this, he enlisted the help of acquaintances among members of expert teams responsible for assessing a person’s daily functioning to produce fictitious medical certificates and subsequently assign disability categories.
In addition, criminal activity by a Dnipro native was documented in the regional center; for money, he organized the illegal “transfer” of conscripts across Ukraine’s western border.
It was established that to carry out the scheme, the perpetrator enlisted an accomplice who is currently outside Ukraine. The trafficker “priced” this service at 8,000 dollars.
Chernivtsi Region
In Chernivtsi, SBU cyber experts, in collaboration with the National Police, exposed an employee of a local preschool who, for $10,000, enlisted the help of doctors she knew to register draft evaders for fictitious “inpatient treatment.”
Subsequently, the conscripts were unjustifiably assigned a disability category and granted the status of unfit for military service.
Lviv Region
In the Lviv region, another organizer of a network illegally smuggling conscripts across the border was detained.
He turned out to be a resident of the Sambir District who, for 11,000 euros, used his own car to transport “passengers” to a designated location near the state border and instructed them on how to illegally cross it on foot outside of official checkpoints.
Also in the region, a State Border Guard Service inspector will stand trial based on evidence from the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the State Bureau of Investigation (DBR).
For $30,000, the official promised conscripts that he would arrange the necessary documents for their unimpeded travel to the EU through border crossing points. During searches of the suspect’s residence, authorities discovered a hand-held anti-personnel grenade that he had been illegally storing in his own car.
In Lviv, the director and head of a department at the city council’s dental clinic were exposed for organizing fictitious employment for conscripts, followed by “exempting” them from mobilization.
For $5,500, they falsely “hired” “clients” as doctors and added them to the list of employees who are “exempt” from conscription.
Ivano-Frankivsk Region
Cybersecurity specialists from the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), in cooperation with the National Police, shut down the illegal activities of two officials at the district military registration and enlistment office.
The department head and a branch operator deleted data regarding violations of military registration from the electronic conscript registry, thereby removing draft dodgers from the wanted list. They also entered false information claiming that men had completed military service, resulting in their removal from the register of conscripts.
The SBU documented the suspects’ illegal activities and detained them. They were notified of charges under several articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, specifically regarding the illegal smuggling of persons across the state border, unauthorized handling of information, obtaining unlawful benefits, abuse of influence, obstruction of the lawful activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and illegal handling of weapons.
The suspects face up to 9 years in prison with confiscation of property.
Investigative actions are ongoing to establish all the circumstances of the illegal activities and identify other possible participants in the schemes, according to the SBU.
As a reminder, a General Staff officer was detained for accepting a bribe of 14,000 dollars.
In the Chernihiv region, a detained deserter attempted to offer a bribe of 40,000 hryvnias.
The SBU and the National Police have uncovered 12 schemes to evade mobilization in eight regions.
