The SSU and the National Police have uncovered eight schemes to evade mobilisation in various regions of Ukraine
The Security Service of Ukraine, in collaboration with the National Police, has uncovered eight new schemes to evade mobilisation in various regions of the country. As part of the operation, 22 organisers and participants in these illegal schemes were arrested.
According to law enforcement officials, the cost of such services ranged from 3,500 to 20,000 US dollars. In exchange for this money, those liable for military service were offered forged documents to avoid conscription or were assisted in illegally leaving the country outside official border crossing points.
In the Kyiv region, the deputy director-general of the regional psychiatric and narcological hospital and the head of one of the hospital’s departments were exposed. The investigation established that they had arranged fictitious inpatient treatment for potential conscripts and unjustifiably assigned them disability categories. To find clients, the officials enlisted the help of a family doctor they knew.
In the Chernivtsi region, law enforcement officers exposed a married couple who organised the smuggling of conscripts to a neighbouring European Union country, bypassing checkpoints and control posts. Eight other people were involved in the scheme, transporting the men to the border by car and motorbike and helping them cross via forest routes. A law enforcement officer who passed on information about the location of checkpoints was detained along with the organisers.
In the Cherkasy region, a local woman was detained who, according to the investigation, was selling fake medical commission reports declaring individuals unfit for service. To process the documents, she enlisted the help of doctors she knew who were members of the local medical commission.
In the Lviv region, a local resident and his son were notified of their status as suspects. According to the investigation, they helped to arrange fictitious disability status through connections among medical staff. Separately, a surgeon was detained who demanded money in exchange for assisting in extending the validity of third-group disability status and processing the necessary documents.
In Vinnytsia, an official from one of the state institutions was detained. According to law enforcement, he promised, in return for payment, to transfer conscripts to rear units and subsequently arrange deferrals from service.
In the Dnipropetrovsk region, two sisters were exposed for selling disability certificates to conscripts. Doctors from several medical institutions in the region were involved in the scheme, entering false information about serious illnesses into the documents.
In the Khmelnytskyi region, a 35-year-old man was detained who was offering forged disability certificates, citing alleged personal connections at one of the medical institutions.
The suspects have been notified of charges under a number of articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, including obstructing the lawful activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine during a state of emergency, illegally smuggling persons across the state border, and abuse of influence.
If found guilty, the suspects face up to nine years’ imprisonment with confiscation of property.
The cases are being handled by the Specialised Prosecutor’s Office for Defence in the Western Region, the Brovary, Cherkasy and Synelnykiv District Prosecutor’s Offices, as well as the Chernivtsi, Vinnytsia and Lviv Regional Prosecutor’s Offices.
