A scheme involving soldiers deserting their units was uncovered in Kropyvnytskyi
In Kropyvnytskyi, law enforcement officials uncovered an organized group that, for a fee, helped military personnel leave their posts and training centers. According to police, the scheme’s participants smuggled conscripts past checkpoints and received thousands of dollars in return. All five suspects have already been detained and charged.
Law enforcement, in collaboration with the military leadership of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, shut down the group’s operations. According to the investigation, the group helped conscripts leave their posts and training centers by circumventing legal procedures, turning these escapes into a systematic business with a well-established scheme. Police report that the organizers not only coordinated the soldiers’ departures but also received monetary compensation for doing so, operating across various regions of Ukraine and acting as covertly as possible.
According to the National Police, the group consisted of five residents of Kremenchuk led by a 29-year-old organizer, and the fees for these “services” ranged from $3,000 to $7,000 per escape. The agency emphasizes that the suspects first established contact with the relatives of the mobilized soldiers, promising “discharge from the military,” after which they passed the phones to the soldiers in their units to coordinate further actions.
According to the investigation, the scheme then operated as a well-established process: at night, they would drive to poorly guarded sections of military facilities, help the soldiers climb over fences, and transport them away, bypassing checkpoints. According to police, in this manner, starting in September 2025, they were able to organize the escape of nearly three dozen servicemen, earning significant sums of money in the process.
Separately, investigators also noted the ideological motives of some participants: one of the suspects, quoted in the case files, spoke of anticipating Russia’s arrival and expressed hostile sentiments toward Ukraine. During searches, law enforcement officers seized cash, vehicles, and rough notes, which, according to the investigation, confirm the scale of the scheme.
All five detainees have been notified of charges under the article on obstructing the lawful activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and the court has ordered their detention as a preventive measure. The investigation is ongoing, and investigators are examining possible additional incidents and the circle of individuals who may have been involved in the scheme.
As a reminder, a scheme to help men flee abroad via the TCC was uncovered in Kharkiv.
The SBU detained the head of a medical examination commission in Kropyvnytskyi for selling disability certificates.
Kyiv police dismantled an interregional cocaine distribution network worth 8 million hryvnias.
