SBU exposes military unit commander selling draft deferrals, officials falsifying mobilization records
The State Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the National Police have eliminated new schemes for evading mobilization in various regions of Ukraine, among those detained: the commander of a branch of one of the military units in northern Ukraine and officials of the Central Committee of the Armed Forces in the city of Dnipro.
On Wednesday, the SBU reported on the detention of five organizers of the deals - for amounts ranging from $6,000 to $15,000, the dealers forged documents on the basis of which men of draft age could avoid military service.
"In Kyiv, the SBU military counterintelligence detained the commander of a branch of one of the military units in northern Ukraine, who was selling "deferrals" from service. For money, the defendant arranged for evaders to work and study at one of the Kyiv universities. At the same time, clients were enrolled in higher education institutions only "on paper" and they did not physically appear there," the SBU said in a statement.
To implement the "scheme," the suspect used personal connections among officials of the educational institution.
"In addition, the businessman forged medical certificates of disability, and also sold fake certificates of diplomats. For this, he used fake forms and stamps of state institutions," the Ukrainian special service noted.
According to the SBU, three officials in Dnipro allegedly received bribes for groundless "writing off" potential mobilizers due to health conditions.
"The head of the military registration and reservation department of the military enlistment office and two more of his subordinates were involved in organizing the deal. According to the case materials, 37 conscripts used their "services," the SBU said.
According to the case materials, all illegal decisions of military medical commissions under this scheme were canceled.
In addition, according to the report, in Zakarpattia, a notice of suspicion was served to the head of the neurological department, who gave "serious" diagnoses to evaders and issued them fake disabilities.
For all episodes, the detainees were notified of suspicion in accordance with the crimes committed under several articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine: Part 2 of Article 28, Part 1 of Article 114-1 (obstruction of the lawful activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations during a special period, committed by a group of persons in advance of a conspiracy); Part 1 of Article 368 (acceptance of an offer, promise or receipt of a large amount of illegal benefit by an official); Part 3 of Article 27, Part 3 of Article 362 (organization of unauthorized actions with information processed in electronic computers, committed by a person who has the right to access it).
The complex measures were carried out under the procedural guidance of the Kyiv Specialized Prosecutor's Office in the Field of Defense of the Central Region, the Dnipro Specialized Prosecutor's Office in the Field of Defense of the Eastern Region, and the Zakarpattia Regional Prosecutor's Office.
