Together with the National Police, the SSU Main Directorate for Internal Security has neutralized a criminal group that terrorized residents of Odesa oblast. The criminals posed as SSU and military enlistment office officials and extorted money from potential conscripts.

For the money, the offenders promised the victims that they would not be prosecuted for ‘evading mobilization’.

To look convincing, the criminals forged SSU chevrons and showed their victims fake IDs.

In the men refused to pay, the racketeers threatened to abduct and physically assault them.

The law enforcement documented the gang extorting USD 20,000 from a local resident.

The suspects have been apprehended and taken into custody. They are suspected under three Articles of the CCU:

• 189.4 (extortion, committed by an organized group under martial law);
• 146 (illegal deprivation of liberty or abduction of a person);
• 353 (unauthorized assumption of authority or an official’s title).

The investigation is underway. The suspects face up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property.

The operation was conducted jointly with the National Police under the supervision of the Specialized Military and Defence Prosecutor’s Office of the Southern Region.