A pastor who was smuggling draft dodgers across the border was caught in Kyiv
The Security Service of Ukraine has exposed a pastor of one of Kyiv’s religious communities who, according to the investigation, organized the illegal smuggling of men subject to military conscription across the state border in the Chernivtsi region.
According to preliminary information, he enlisted two other members of his church in this illegal activity. Law enforcement officials have uncovered the group’s activities and are investigating all the circumstances surrounding the illegal scheme.
The pastor is a native of Bukovina but currently resides in the Kyiv region, where he leads a congregation of one of the Christian churches. The clergyman devised and organized a scheme to smuggle men across the border. He enlisted two other church members in the scheme—a 28-year-old senior deacon and a 40-year-old female parishioner.
The pastor’s accomplices sought out men subject to military service who were trying to avoid conscription. They also abducted men who had already been mobilized from military units. The pastor personally drove the draft dodgers to the Chernivtsi region, where they were to cross the Ukrainian-Romanian border on foot outside of official checkpoints.
He chose the routes carefully, bypassing checkpoints. To maintain a cover, he used various identification documents from civic and volunteer organizations. The cost of such services was 7,500 euros per person.
SBU operatives detained the organizer in March while he was transporting another group of conscripts toward the state border. His accomplices were later detained as well. All three have been charged under Part 3 of Article 332 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (illegal transportation of persons across the state border of Ukraine). They face up to 9 years in prison.
This was reported by the SBU office in the Chernivtsi region on Thursday, September 3.
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