The Security Service and the National Police have blocked another eight draft evasion schemes and detained the organisers in several regions of Ukraine.

For sums ranging from USD 7,000 to 15,000, they offered conscripts a way to evade conscription through forged documents or helped them flee abroad outside of official border crossings.

In Kyiv, the SSU cyber units exposed the deputy head of the customer service department at one of the capital’s banks. For bribes, he arranged ‘reservations’ for men at a critical enterprise, which enabled them to dodge conscription.

The perpetrator was caught red-handed at a shopping centre while receiving money from a ‘client’.

In Odesa, the SSU Military Counterintelligence exposed an employee of the administrative unit of a Territorial Recruitment Centre who unjustifiably ‘removed’ draft dodgers from military registration on health grounds.

For money, he also helped conscripts evade punishment for going AWOL from their military units.

To do this, he promised to influence his acquaintances. According to him, these were high-ranking officials in the Armed Forces and members of the military medical commission.

In the Mykolaiv region, two suspects were detained, one of whom is a foreigner with a permanent residence permit in Ukraine.

They were trafficking in foreign passports and driver’s licenses into which they pasted photos of the draft evaders.

In the Cherkasy region, another organiser was detained; he already has a prior conviction for murder.

The repeat offender arranged the fictitious employment of conscripts at critical enterprises, followed by their departure abroad under the guise of a work trip.

In the Poltava region, four bloggers were placed under suspicion for posting the locations of checkpoints and patrol routes within the region in messenger chat rooms.

The investigation also established that one of the suspects had attacked law enforcement officers at a local Territorial Recruitment Centre and forcibly removed his acquaintance, who had been mobilised, from the facility.

In the Sumy region, three administrators of Telegram channels and a Viber group were exposed for publishing coordinates of mobile teams of the Territorial Recruitment Centre and joint patrol groups to help men evade receiving personal draft notices.

In Vinnytsia, a local hospital employee was exposed for using her personal TikTok page to urge conscripts to evade law enforcement patrols to dodge mobilisation.

In Bukovyna, an official from a district TRC was detained for helping conscripts obtain fake disability status through his connections among doctors.

Currently, the organisers of the schemes have been notified of suspicion under the Articles of the CCU according to the offences committed:

• 28.2, 114-1.1 (obstruction of the lawful activities of the AFU, during a special period, committed by a group, upon conspiracy);
• 114-2.2 (unauthorised dissemination of information regarding the movement or deployment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine or other lawful military formations of Ukraine, committed under martial law);
• 332.3 (illegal transportation of persons across the state border of Ukraine);
• 369-2.2, 369-2.3 (abuse of influence).

The suspects face up to 9 years in prison with confiscation of property.

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