The Security Service and the National Police have blocked five new schemes for evading mobilisation and detained the organisers of these schemes in several regions of Ukraine.

For sums of up to USD 20,000, they offered conscripts the chance to evade conscription through forged documents or helped them flee abroad outside of official border crossing points.

In Kyiv region, the SSU detained a local couple who were offering draft dodgers ‘inpatient treatment’ followed by the issuance of fictitious medical reports certifying a Group II disability.

To forge medical documentation, a nurse at the regional tuberculosis dispensary, together with her husband, enlisted the help of doctors of various specialities whom they knew.

The law enforcement team caught the couple red-handed in Bucha district whilst they were receiving money from a ‘client’.

In Chernihiv region, a neurologist – a member of the Military Medical Commission – was exposed for offering draft evaders fictitious hospitalisation in exchange for money, followed by the issuance of ‘serious diagnoses’.

The doctor involved two other local residents in the scheme, who were responsible for finding ‘clients’ and passing on bribes.

It has been documented how the suspect ‘fabricated’ a neurological condition for a conscript and sold him a certificate of unfitness for service on health grounds.

In Cherkasy region, an organiser from Kyiv region was detained for trading in fictitious medical histories and documents certifying disability groups 2 and 3.

To forge the documentation, the fraudster used personal connections among doctors and members of the expert team assessing a person’s daily functioning.

In Dnipropetrovsk region, a local repeat offender was exposed; he is currently serving a sentence for drug-related offences and simultaneously organised a channel for evaders to escape from Ukraine to Moldova across the border.

To carry out the scheme, the prisoner recruited four accomplices at large. They sought out ‘clients’ and took them to the border.

The SSU and the police detained four participants in the scheme whilst they were receiving payment for a transboder ‘transfer’ of a conscript.

A taxi driver in the region has also been placed under suspicion for transporting draft dodgers out of Ukraine. His ‘services’ included instructions on the escape route across the western border and remote guidance during the crossing.

The organisers have now been notified of the charges against them under several Articles of the CCU:

• 28.2, 114-1.1 (obstruction of the lawful activities of the AFU, committed by a group by prior conspiracy);
• 332.2 (illegal transportation of persons across the state border of Ukraine);
• 369-2.3 (abuse of influence).

The suspects face up to 8 years’ imprisonment with confiscation of property.

The operations were carried out under the procedural supervision of the Prosecutor’s Offices.