Helped draft dodgers avoid conscription in various regions: Security Service of Ukraine and police exposed university and medical institution employees

The Security Service of Ukraine and the National Police have uncovered three additional corruption schemes involving evasion of mobilization in Kyiv, Cherkasy, and Zakarpattia. One of the cases involved 225 fake “students” at a university.

As a result of comprehensive measures, all the organizers of these schemes have been detained. Among them are the heads of two private higher education institutions and officials from military medical commissions.

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

In Zakarpattia, the rector and vice-rector of a private university were arrested for enrolling draft dodgers into bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral programs at their own and foreign universities without entrance exams. They promised these “students” that they would easily obtain deferments from conscription. The cost of these services was approximately €1,500 per person.

To carry out this illegal scheme, the university’s leadership involved a military law enforcement official.

After the Security Service of Ukraine exposed the scheme, the Uzhhorod regional territorial recruitment commission canceled the deferments of 225 draft dodgers who had used this “student scheme.”

During searches, authorities seized cash in both national and foreign currencies, amounting to more than 4.5 million UAH (€100,000), as well as handwritten records, mobile phones, and other devices.

In Kyiv Oblast, the deputy director of a financial college and two of his subordinates were arrested. They had been backdating admissions to the doctoral program to assist their clients. The suspects falsely enrolled draft dodgers as students of the college, although they never studied there, and arranged for their admission to a private research institute.

This allowed the draft dodgers to defer their mobilization and obtain the right to travel abroad. The cost of these services ranged from $5,000 to $10,000. Law enforcement officials documented more than 50 such cases.

During the searches, authorities confiscated doctoral student IDs, lists of conscripts, and records of the sums received.

In Cherkasy, three members of a military medical commission were arrested for selling fake medical exemptions to draft dodgers. The organizers also involved a nurse who recruited potential clients and coordinated communications between them and the military medical commission.

For a bribe of 25,000 UAH (€556), they promised to provide a fraudulent medical consultation concluding that the conscript was unfit for military service due to health issues. In addition, they offered to influence members of the military medical commission to issue a decision granting a deferment from conscription for health reasons.

All those detained have been charged under several articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine:

• Part 3 of Article 369-2 (abuse of influence),
• Part 2 of Article 28 and Part 1 of Article 114-1 (hindering the lawful activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations during a special period, committed by a group of people in conspiracy).

The offenders face up to 8 years in prison.

It is also worth noting that two doctors were recently arrested in Khmelnytskyi Oblast for accepting bribes to help conscripts obtain fake disability certificates. They charged between $3,000 and $8,000 for their services.