Large-scale desertion scheme exposed in four Ukrainian regions: organizers charged up to $15,000 – SBI. PHOTO
Employees of the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), together with the Strategic Investigations Department of the National Police, exposed an organized group that helped mobilized service members to leave their places of service without authorization in exchange for money. The scheme operated in four regions of Ukraine, and the fee for the "service" ranged from US$8,000 to US$15,000 per person.
This was reported by the SBI press center, Censor.NET reports.
Details
According to the investigation, the scheme was organized by three civilians who had previously served in the military and had been removed from the military register. They were well familiar with the procedure for military service, control mechanisms and had connections among serving military personnel.
The suspects looked for "clients" through relatives of service members and arranged for them to leave military units and training centers without authorization. The cost depended on the place of service, the complexity of the escape and the family’s ability to pay.
Members of the group coordinated communication with the service members, provided detailed escape instructions, helped them avoid checks and transported deserters to hiding places.
Law enforcement officers documented at least five cases of unlawful assistance in leaving a place of service without authorization in Volyn, Lviv, Zhytomyr and Chernivtsi regions.
Investigators also established that the organizer had received part of the agreed sum in advance, US$2,000, from one of the mobilized service members.
Detentions and charges
During the transfer of the second part of the unlawful benefit, amounting to US$8,000, law enforcement officers detained the organizer and two members of the group. Two service members who had been taken from a military unit in December 2025 and February 2026 and had been wanted were also detained. The whereabouts of other individuals involved are being established.
- Several dozen searches were conducted at the residences of the scheme’s participants and people who had left military service. Vehicles, communication devices, and other physical evidence were seized during the investigative actions.
- The organizer and two members of the scheme were notified of suspicion of aiding desertion, that is, leaving a place of service without authorization with the aim of evading military service, committed under martial law (under Part 5 of Article 27 and Part 4 of Article 408 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
Two service members who left their military unit without authorization were notified of suspicion of desertion committed under martial law (under Part 4 of Article 408 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
The sanctions under these articles provide for punishment of up to 12 years in prison.
The court imposed pretrial detention as a preventive measure for the suspects, while another female participant in the scheme was placed under house arrest.
