Military commissars extorted 12 thousand dollars for the release of a conscript with a mental illness

A resident of Kryvyi Rih claims that staff of the local Territorial Recruitment and Social Support Center (TRCC) demanded a $12,000 bribe to release her husband, who has a mental illness and a “white card” exempting him from service.

The woman published videos on social media about her attempts to free her husband—or at least see him.

According to her, the man was detained at a construction site where he worked by employees of the Pokrovsko-Ternivskyi district TRCC in Kryvyi Rih. They allegedly ignored a certificate from a psychiatric clinic and his “white card.” A medical board declared him fit for service. Officials from another TRCC then reportedly offered to release him in exchange for money.

“Do you want us to erase him from all databases? Then pay $12,000. How is that even possible? Where are we supposed to get $12,000?” the woman said on camera, adding that the TRCC staff might take the money but still refuse to let her relative go.

She further claimed that the medical commission that declared her husband fit falsifies its conclusions—issuing them without the required documents (passport, tax number, or white card) and without the conscripts’ signatures.

The woman went to speak with a doctor from the military medical commission (VVC), who told her she had recognized her husband as fit for service in support units (i.e., rear positions). However, the man’s relatives accused the doctor of not including that clarification in the official VVC report.