$13,000 to flee army: SBI uncovers scheme to illegally transport servicemen out of military units. PHOTOS
Employees of the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), together with the National Police and the Military Law Enforcement Service of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, exposed a group that transported servicemen away from their duty stations for money and helped them hide.
The organizer of the scheme, her law enforcement accomplice, and a driver have been notified of suspicion, Censor.NET reports.
Details
According to the investigation, the scheme was organized by a resident of the Kyiv region. She enlisted a law enforcement officer who recruited drivers, coordinated their actions, and instructed servicemen who intended to leave their duty stations without authorization.
The drivers picked up the servicemen directly from their military units and transported them to designated locations.
The first documented criminal episode occurred in October 2025. For $13,000, members of the scheme arranged for a serviceman to flee. They helped conceal the fact that he had left his duty station without authorization and later promised to obtain an illegal exemption from mobilization and forged documents from a territorial community volunteer formation for him.
In June 2026, SBI employees documented two more attempts to transport servicemen away from their units. The suspects planned to receive $5,000 for each. In one case, they demanded an additional $2,000, purportedly to "resolve the issue" if the serviceman was detained by law enforcement officers.
In July 2026, law enforcement officers detained members of the scheme after they received $7,000.
The organizer and the law enforcement officer have been notified of suspicion of aiding desertion and obstructing the lawful activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. One of the drivers is suspected of aiding desertion.
The investigation also established that one of the drivers who transported the servicemen had himself left his duty station without authorization.
The charges carry sentences of up to 12 years in prison.
The court ordered all suspects to be held in custody with the possibility of posting bail.
The pre-trial investigation is ongoing.
