In the Odesa region, a city official renounced her children so her husband could leave the country — media reports

In the Odesa region, a city official renounced her children so that her husband could leave the country.

This was reported by local media, citing the court registry.

It is reported that the decision was made by the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi City District Court, which has been mass-producing similar decisions, leading to an investigation by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, as a result, one of the judges has been detained.

In this case, the husband of Maria Holovchenko, head of the Youth and Sports Department of the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi City Council, filed for divorce, insisting that their two children remain with him.

In such cases, courts almost always leave children with the mother, but the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi court issued over 1,000 rulings in favor of fathers during 2022-2023. At this time, the official’s children were taken from her, although her parental rights were retained.

Six months after the divorce, the official congratulated her ex-husband on Facebook: “The best person in my life is celebrating their birthday today. Happy birthday, my soul, my strong shoulder, Hennadiy Holovchenko.”

Dumska suggests that this was done so that the man could leave the country. However, the publication does not confirm this.

Previously, it was reported about a scheme for men to leave the country or avoid mobilization through a court-ordered divorce, followed by custody being granted to the father. Over three years, more than 3,800 similar decisions were made, with more than 30% issued by the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi City District Court.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) also reported uncovering a large-scale scheme for draft evaders to flee abroad. According to the investigation, the leadership of the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi military commissariat and the local military medical commission were involved in organizing the scheme.