Law enforcement officers have uncovered six new schemes to evade mobilisation in various regions of Ukraine
The Security Service of Ukraine, the State Bureau of Investigations and the National Police have reported the uncovering of six new schemes to evade mobilisation in various regions of Ukraine. Following a series of comprehensive operations, 15 organisers have been arrested on suspicion of facilitating evasion of conscription through fictitious employment, document forgery and illegal crossings of the state border.
In the Sumy region, law enforcement officers dismantled an inter-regional scheme in which participants registered conscripts as lecturers at a fictitious private educational institution. According to the investigation, this made it possible to obtain a deferment from mobilisation. The investigation established that over 200 conscripts had taken advantage of this scheme. Law enforcement officers detained eight organisers, along with the director of the fictitious institution.
In Kharkiv, a lawyer was exposed who, according to the investigation, organised the employment of conscripts at a critical infrastructure enterprise. Investigators established that these employees did not, in fact, carry out their duties, and that the forged employment records were used to secure deferrals from mobilisation.
In Rivne, a representative of the expert team assessing an individual’s day-to-day functioning – which replaced the Medical and Social Expert Commission (MSEC) – was detained. According to the investigation, he and his accomplices falsified the medical records of those subject to mobilisation in order to issue medical certificates stating they were unfit for military service. Law enforcement officials claim that the suspects unjustifiably confirmed the presence of serious illnesses and assigned Group III disability status.
In the Cherkasy region, law enforcement officers detained a man who, according to the investigation, helped conscripts obtain guardian status. To this end, law enforcement officials report, he enlisted the help of officials he knew on military medical commissions to forge medical reports regarding the need for constant care for the relatives of those liable for military service.
In the Ivano-Frankivsk region, the SSU and the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) have exposed three individuals suspected of organising the illegal smuggling of conscripts across the state border into one of the neighbouring European Union countries. According to the investigation, the route ran through mountainous terrain, bypassing border crossing points.
In the Dnipropetrovsk region, a blogger from the Samarivskyi district was detained. According to the investigation, he published information on his own Telegram channel – which had over 1,500 subscribers – about the locations and routes of mobile units from territorial recruitment centres and law enforcement officers.
All those involved have been notified of charges under a number of articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, in particular regarding the receipt of unlawful benefits in exchange for influencing decision-making, the illegal smuggling of persons across the state border, and the obstruction of the lawful activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations during a state of emergency.
If found guilty, the suspects face up to nine years’ imprisonment with confiscation of property. Comprehensive measures were carried out under the procedural supervision of the Office of the Prosecutor General, regional prosecutor’s offices and the Specialised Prosecutor’s Office for Defence in the Western Region.
