Ten schemes in nine regions: SSU blocks large-scale draft evasion network

Ten schemes in nine regions: SSU blocks large-scale draft evasion network

The Security Service of Ukraine, together with the National Police, uncovered ten organized schemes for evading mobilization and detained their organizers in various regions of the country.

This was reported by the SSU.

According to the investigation, the perpetrators offered conscripts the opportunity to avoid conscription for sums ranging from 3 to 24 thousand US dollars, using forged disability documents or illegal border crossings outside official checkpoints.

In Vinnytsia region, a "family business" of doctors was exposed: a neurologist from a regional hospital and her son, an orthopedic surgeon, falsified disability certificates, earning around 9 million UAH from this scheme. Additionally, in the region, a contract soldier was detained while attempting to illegally smuggle a mobilized person to unrecognized Transnistria.

In Chernivtsi region, SSU cyber specialists identified 12 individuals who, through messenger chats, disseminated geolocations of territorial recruitment centers and police, as well as encouraged evasion of mobilization, which led to disruptions in conscription in the region.

In Kyiv region, organizers of a channel for the illegal departure of conscripts to the European Union were exposed; they were detained while receiving a bribe for a "transfer" from Bila Tserkva to the western border. In Zhytomyr region, a Ministry of Defence official and his accomplice used personal connections in territorial recruitment centers to unjustifiably remove draft dodgers from the wanted list.

In Lviv region, the head of a diagnostic department and her subordinate nurse were detained for taking bribes to assign Group III disability status. Additionally, the head and a member of a military medical commission were exposed for "assigning" fictitious illnesses to draft dodgers to remove them from military registration. Furthermore, in the region, individuals were detained who offered border crossings under the guise of international freight forwarders and sold fake certificates of heart conditions.

In Zakarpattia region, the SBU detained a resident of Chop who smuggled conscripts to the European Union across the Tysa River, providing them with life jackets, inflatable boats, oars, and wetsuits.

The detained individuals have been charged under several articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, including obstructing the lawful activities of the Armed Forces, illegal smuggling of persons across the border, official forgery, and abuse of influence.

The offenders face up to 10 years in prison with confiscation of property.