Former high-ranking official and two Kharkiv deputies are suspected of smuggling men abroad under the guise of volunteers

Former head of the apparatus of the Kharkiv Regional Administration, Viktoria Belyavtseva, as well as four other individuals, including a district council deputy and the head of one of the district administrations in Kharkiv, have been suspected of organizing the illegal export of men abroad.

This was reported by the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine.

According to the investigation, the suspects are involved in a scheme through which 19 men were able to leave Ukraine and did not return. Their data was entered into the “Shlyakh” system for a fee of around 60,000 hryvnias (approximately 1,420 euros), as reported by the prosecutor’s office.

Belyavtseva’s lawyer, Yevhen Riako, stated that he plans to appeal the suspicion notification.

“We only followed the direct instructions of the head of the regional military administration,” the lawyer noted.