The Security Service and the State Bureau of Investigation have dismantled yet another draft evasion scheme in the Kirovohrad region. A criminal group selling fictitious disability certificates to men to help them evade conscription has been neutralised.

According to the investigation, the head of the Military Medical Commission of one of the civil protection agencies, the deputy chief physician and head of a department at the city hospital, as well as members of expert commissions at medical institutions in the region, were involved in the scheme.

The SSU documented more than 10 episodes of the perpetrators receiving bribes for issuing fake disability certificates to draft dodgers.

The cost ranged from USD 2,000 to 5,000, depending on the urgency.

The perpetrators entered false information into the men’s medical records stating ‘prolonged inpatient treatment’ and forged test results.

They then sent the forged documents to members of the expert teams for assessing a person’s functional capacity (formerly, MSECs) under their control to establish disability categories for the draft dodgers.

The law enforcement officers caught the scheme’s organisers ‘red-handed’ after they received another bribe.

During the searches of the suspects’ offices, homes, and vehicles, medical records were seized, along with over 7 million Hryvnias in cash.

Six individuals involved have been notified of suspicion under Article 368.3 of the CCU (acceptance of an offer, promise, or receipt of an unlawful benefit by a public official).

The investigation is ongoing. The perpetrators face up to 10 years in prison with confiscation of property.

The operation was carried out by the SSU Office in the Kirovohrad region jointly with the SBI and the National Police under the procedural supervision of the regional Prosecutor’s Office.