In Odesa, the SSU blocked a channel of illegal departure of Ukrainian men of call-up age to foreign states.

The head of a local civil association of sailors is involved in the organization of illegal traffic.

The woman offered potential conscripts to secretly leave Ukraine under the guise of ‘working for foreign merchant ships’.

To do this, the association head provided her clients with counterfeited documents on unfitness for military service.

The cost of ‘services’ ranged from USD 7 to 8 thousand per person. The amount depended on circumstances and urgency of the ‘trip’.

To carry out the unlawful activity, the offender set up an organized criminal group, which included her father.

He was the one who met and negotiated with clients and received payment from them.

Another member of the group is the chief of a local training center for sailors, who used his connections in medical institutions to issue false certificates on ‘health’ of the draft evaders.

The ‘clients’ received a package of fake documents through a courier.

Members of the group used anonymous messengers to communicate with each other and tried to act as secretly as possible.

However, the SSU uncovered the criminal scheme and documented how the suspects received USD 8,000 for a chance to flee abroad.

As a result of the operation, the SSU detained the organizer of the group, her close relative and the head of the maritime training center.

During the searches at their homes, the law enforcement found computer equipment and documents with evidence of the crime, as well as cash obtained by criminal means.

Criminal proceedings were initiated under the Articles of the CCU:

• 368-3.4 (bribery of an official of a private legal entity regardless of legal form);
• 332.3 (illegal transportation of persons across Ukraine’s state border).

The detainees will be notified of suspicion in the nearest future. Court is to decide on measures of restraint.

The pre-trial investigation is ongoing to establish all the circumstances of the offence and bring the involved to justice.

The SSU Office in Odesa exposed the crime with the procedural supervision of the regional Prosecutor’s Office.