The SSU and the National Police have uncovered five schemes to evade conscription
The SSU and the National Police have reported that they have foiled five new schemes to evade mobilisation and arrested the organisers of these schemes in various regions of Ukraine.
According to law enforcement officials, the cost of such services ranged from 5,000 to 35,000 US dollars. The suspects offered conscripts the chance to avoid mobilisation using forged documents or organised illegal travel abroad outside of official border crossings.
In the Kyiv region, the deputy head of a civil society organisation was detained on suspicion of smuggling men of conscription age into a neighbouring country, bypassing checkpoints.
According to the investigation, he was detained at a local petrol station, where he was due to meet a client and take him to the western border. The route then continued through wooded terrain beyond Ukraine’s borders.
In the Lviv region, law enforcement officers exposed three members of a military medical commission at one of the territorial recruitment and social support centres. Among them were a psychiatrist, a neurologist and a surgeon.
Investigators believe that the doctors falsified the diagnoses of conscripts and issued forged medical certificates regarding their health to secure deferrals from conscription.
In the Zhytomyr region, a serviceman and an employee of the Volyn regional territorial recruitment and social support centre were detained. According to law enforcement, they organised the illegal transfer of men to European Union countries.
The investigation established that private transport operators were used to transport the clients to the western border. The men were then to cross the border through wooded terrain.
In the Cherkasy region, a estate agent was exposed who is suspected of organising the illegal issuance of second-class disability certificates for conscripts.
According to the investigation, he planned to enlist the help of acquaintances who were members of the expert team assessing a person’s daily functioning to produce the forged documents.
In the Vinnytsia region, two men were detained on suspicion of selling certificates of fictitious disability. According to law enforcement, they turned out to be an employee of a confectionery factory and a local businessman.
Investigators claim that the suspects used the forged documents themselves to evade military service and later began selling them to others through acquaintances.
The suspects have been charged under several articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, including the illegal smuggling of persons across the state border, forgery of official documents and abuse of influence.
According to law enforcement officials, the suspects face up to nine years’ imprisonment with confiscation of property.
