Six new draft evasion schemes exposed in Ukraine

As reported by Ukrinform, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) shared the information.

Following a series of coordinated actions by the SBU and the National Police, a total of ten organizers of these illicit operations were arrested in various regions of Ukraine.

It has been established that, in exchange for bribes ranging from 3,000 to 20,000 dollars, the perpetrators helped men avoid conscription by providing fake documents.

In particular, in Chernihiv region, a city council deputy was caught aiding the illegal enrollment of conscripted men into a local college. By enrolling as students in a vocational education program, the men were able to avoid conscription.

In Khmelnytskyi region, the head of a district territorial recruitment and social support center was arrested for accepting bribes to help conscripts avoid mobilization through forged medical certificates.

In Donetsk region, another district recruitment official was exposed for removing draft evaders from military records based on fake military medical commission certificates.

In Sumy region, two founders of a charity fund and their accomplices were caught manufacturing fake documents to allow draft dodgers to leave the country under the guise of volunteers.

In Odesa region, law enforcement arrested a former deputy head and a current employee of the state maritime port, who were selling forged disability certificates to conscripted men. To produce the fake documents, the criminals enlisted local doctors from the Medical and Social Expert Commission (MSEC).

In Cherkasy, a repeat offender was exposed for posing as a military serviceman and offering draft evaders hospitalization with fake "serious" diagnoses. Based on these forged medical documents, the men were removed from military records.

All ten individuals have been formally charged under various articles of the Ukrainian Criminal Code.

The suspects face up to ten years in prison with asset confiscation.

As reported by Ukrinform, a judicial assistant in the Mariinskyi District Court of Donetsk region was recently exposed for organizing a scheme involving fake divorces and establishing guardianship of children to help draft evaders.