The SBU exposed large-scale mobilization evasion schemes in seven regions: suspects include lawyers, doctors, a cleric, and a State Emergency Service employee

The Security Service of Ukraine, together with the National Police, uncovered nine schemes for illegal evasion of mobilization, which operated in seven regions of the country. Law enforcement officers detained ten organizers of the schemes, who, for a fee, issued fictitious documents, illegally deferred drafts, and helped conscripts leave the territory of Ukraine.

According to the SBU, the cost of such “services” reached up to 21 thousand US dollars per client.

The schemes operated in seven regions

The illegal schemes were uncovered in the Poltava, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Zhytomyr, Cherkasy, Vinnytsia, and Lviv regions.

In the Poltava region, according to the investigation, a lawyer from the Poltava Regional Bar Association, together with a family doctor, produced fictitious medical documents with false serious diagnoses. Separately, law enforcement officers exposed a neurologist and the head of one of the departments of a local hospital, who, for a fee, issued certificates for obtaining disability groups.

In addition, the investigation established facts of unauthorized interference with the electronic health system, where false information about medical examinations that were not actually conducted was entered.

In Dnipro, the organizer of the scheme, according to law enforcement officers, was also a lawyer. He provided clients with fake documents on the establishment of group III disability through connections in the military medical commission. In addition, according to the investigation, unreliable data was entered into state electronic registers, which allowed for automatic extension of deferrals in the “Reserve +” application.

Another person in the region, according to the SBU, issued documents on unfitness for military service through his relatives, which made it possible to exclude men from military registration.

Illegal crossing of the border

In Donetsk region, law enforcement officers uncovered a channel for illegal crossing of conscripts outside Ukraine. According to the investigation, the organizer transported the men in his own car to the western regions, after which his accomplices accompanied them to sections of the state border and instructed them on illegal crossing through the forest area.

Fictitious treatment and reservation

In Zhytomyr region, a cardiologist is suspected of arranging fictitious inpatient treatment for conscripts after they received summonses. According to the investigation, he also entered false information into the electronic health care system.

In Cherkasy region, a sapper from the special purpose emergency and rescue unit of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine was suspected. According to the law enforcement officers, he promised fictitious employment in the civil defense agencies with subsequent registration of a reservation from mobilization.

In Vinnytsia Oblast, according to the SBU, a cleric of one of the UOC religious communities offered $14,000 in assistance in illegally obtaining a deferral, citing his own connections at the territorial recruitment center.

In Lviv Oblast, a man organized a scheme in which conscripts were enrolled in a local college to obtain the right to a deferral from the draft. He also helped prepare the necessary documents for the territorial recruitment centers.

What punishment does the suspect face

During the searches, law enforcement officers seized mobile phones, bank cards, documents, draft records, and other physical evidence.

Depending on the role of each participant, they were informed of suspicion under a number of articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, in particular, regarding obstruction of the lawful activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, illegal smuggling of persons across the state border, obtaining unlawful benefits, forgery of documents, unauthorized interference in the operation of electronic systems, and abuse of influence.

If convicted, the suspects could face up to nine years in prison with confiscation of property.

Investigative actions are currently underway to identify all persons who may have been involved in the operation of the exposed schemes.