Six schemes to evade mobilisation have been uncovered in Ukraine, with 15 people detained, - SSU. PHOTOS
The Security Service of Ukraine, the State Bureau of Investigations and the National Police have dismantled six new schemes to evade mobilisation in various regions of the country.
According to Censor.NET, this was reported by the SSU’s press centre.
As a result of the special operations, 15 organisers of the schemes were arrested, and over 200 men liable for military service had taken advantage of one of the schemes.
According to law enforcement officials, the suspects, in return for payment, helped men evade mobilisation through fictitious employment, forged medical documents, the illegal granting of deferrals, and smuggling them abroad via unofficial border crossings.
Fictitious educational institution in the Sumy region
In the Sumy region, counter-intelligence officers and SSU investigators uncovered an inter-regional scheme in which participants registered conscripts as ‘lecturers’ at a private educational institution that was not actually operating.
Thanks to this fictitious employment, clients were granted deferrals from mobilisation. According to the investigation, over 200 conscripts took advantage of this scheme. Law enforcement officers detained eight organisers, including the institution’s director.
Lawyer in Kharkiv arranged fictitious employment
In Kharkiv, a lawyer has been exposed for organising, in return for bribes, the registration of draft dodgers at a critical infrastructure enterprise.
The investigation established that these ‘employees’ did not in fact carry out any work, and the forged employment records were used to obtain deferrals from mobilisation.
Medical documents were falsified in Rivne
In Rivne, a member of an expert team assessing an individual’s day-to-day functioning was detained; together with his accomplices, he had been falsifying the medical records of those subject to mobilisation.
According to law enforcement, the suspects confirmed non-existent serious illnesses and unjustifiably assigned Group III disability status to certify unfitness for military service.
In the Cherkasy region, a man was helping people obtain guardian status
In the Cherkasy region, a man was arrested who, for a fee, helped conscripts obtain guardian status, which provided grounds for deferment.
To this end, according to the investigation, he enlisted the help of officials he knew on the military medical commission, who forged medical reports stating that his clients’ relatives required constant care.
Illegal cross-border smuggling ring uncovered in the Carpathian region
In the Ivano-Frankivsk region, officers from the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) and the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) uncovered three individuals who were smuggling conscripts into one of the neighbouring European Union countries.
The route ran through mountainous terrain, bypassing official border crossings.
In the Dnipropetrovsk region, a blogger published the routes of mobile units
In the Samarivskyi district of the Dnipropetrovsk region, a blogger was detained for publishing information on Telegram about the bases and movement routes of mobile units of the TCR and law enforcement officers.
According to the investigation, the restricted content was distributed via his own Telegram channel, which had an audience of over 1,500 subscribers.
What penalties do the suspects face?
All those detained have been notified of charges under a number of articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, in particular regarding the receipt of unlawful benefits, the illegal smuggling of persons across the state border and the obstruction of the lawful activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
If found guilty, the suspects face up to nine years’ imprisonment with confiscation of property.
