Law enforcement officers have uncovered eight schemes to evade conscription in various regions
According to law enforcement officials, in exchange for sums ranging from $2,000 to $17,500, the suspects offered conscripts the chance to avoid conscription using forged documents or facilitated their illegal departure abroad via routes other than official border crossings.
In the Kyiv region, officials from the State Research and Design Institute of Urban Planning were exposed. The investigation established that the head of the institution signed orders appointing conscripts to positions, whilst his first deputy and chief accountant sought out candidates. It is noted that these individuals did not actually work but received salaries. Law enforcement officers also recorded statements by participants in the scheme expressing support for the Kremlin regime. All those involved have been suspended from their posts and notified of the charges against them.
In the same region, a former Kyiv City State Administration official was detained for taking money to arrange employment for conscripts at a municipal enterprise to provide grounds for avoiding mobilisation. He was detained whilst receiving the funds.
In the Dnipropetrovsk region, medical staff were exposed for issuing fictitious medical certificates regarding serious illnesses and granting disability status. According to the investigation, the ringleader was a former hospital official who enlisted the help of a neurosurgeon and the head of the neurology department, who was a member of the military medical commission. Patients were admitted to hospital and underwent unnecessary operations to obtain the required certificates.
In the Poltava region, a surgeon was exposed for unjustifiably assigning a disability category to six conscripts, which allowed them to be removed from military records. Another man was also detained for selling certificates of unfitness for service through his doctor acquaintances.
In the Lviv region, a serviceman was exposed who had promised to arrange deferment through a military medical facility, as well as a man who, for money, offered to help arrange guardianship over his mother to avoid conscription.
In the Cherkasy region, the organiser of the illegal smuggling of conscripts to European Union countries was detained. He provided instructions on the route and remotely accompanied them during the crossing.
The suspects have been notified of charges under a number of articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, including obstruction of the activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, illegal smuggling of persons across the state border, evasion of mobilisation, and abuse of influence.
The penalties for the alleged offences carry a sentence of up to 10 years’ imprisonment with confiscation of property.
