SSU and National Police dismantle 5 more "schemes for draft dodgers". PHOTOS
The Security Service of Ukraine and the National Police have blocked five new draft evasion schemes and exposed eight organizers of the operations in different regions of Ukraine.
For sums ranging from $2,500 to $8,500, the perpetrators offered men liable for military service a way to avoid conscription through forged documents or helped them flee abroad outside official border crossing points, Censor.NET reports.
What is known?
In the Kyiv region, the director of a defense enterprise who was selling fake IDs of a strategic defense industry facility was exposed. After obtaining such forgeries, draft dodgers hoped to use them during document checks by law enforcement officers and the Territorial Centre of Recruitment (TCR) staff.
To run the scheme, the official enlisted two acquaintances, who searched for clients and passed the money to him.
Also in the capital region, a dealer who had set up a channel for the illegal departure of men liable for military service to the European Union was detained. To pass through checkpoints without obstruction, the suspect used an ID showing membership in a volunteer formation of a territorial community as cover.
The suspect was detained while attempting to take a draft dodger from Bila Tserkva toward Ukraine’s western border.
In the Lviv region, two more suspects were exposed. One of them turned out to be a representative of a commission that reviews applications for exemption from military service during mobilization.
According to case materials, the official, together with her son, a former TCR official, helped draft dodgers, for money, arrange guardianship documents for relatives who allegedly required care.
In the Cherkasy, a local resident who, for money, was arranging fake disability certificates for men liable for military service was detained. He involved a doctor from one of the medical facilities in the scheme and guaranteed influence over an expert commission to secure the relevant disability group
The organizer of another scheme was a lyceum teacher who, through doctors she knew, arranged fake diagnoses for women. They were then granted disability status, which allowed their relatives to avoid mobilization.
The suspects have now been notified of the charges against them under several articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine:
- illegal smuggling of persons across the state border of Ukraine;
- aiding and abetting the acceptance of an offer, promise or receipt of an unlawful benefit by a public official;
- abuse of influence.
The perpetrators face up to 10 years in prison with confiscation of property. The investigation is ongoing to bring all those responsible to justice.
