In Dnipro, a military commissar extorted bribes from a football team by threatening mobilization

A serviceman from the district territorial recruitment and social support center in Dnipro was caught extorting bribes from athletes, threatening them with conscription if they refused to pay.

This was reported by the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), which conducted the pre-trial investigation in cooperation with the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).

According to law enforcement officials, the soldier intimidated a local amateur football team coach—his acquaintance—by threatening to mobilize him. He offered to “help” in exchange for a payment of 2,000 hryvnias (about $50). He claimed to have access to blank draft notices with official stamps and the signature of the military commissioner, which could be used at checkpoints to avoid conscription.

He later extended the same offer to the entire football team, which was preparing to travel to another city for a match. In total, he received 35,000 hryvnias (about $850) from the team. He was arrested during the handover of the money.

Investigators found that the soldier was part of a notification group and, together with other staff at the recruitment center, was tasked with distributing draft notices. He kept some of the notices for himself and sold them for personal profit.

He has been charged with extortion and receiving unlawful benefits under Part 3 of Article 368 of the Ukrainian Criminal Code. This offense carries a potential sentence of up to 10 years in prison with confiscation of property.

Previously, a member of parliament cited statistics indicating that Ukrainians pay up to 2 billion euros annually in bribes to recruitment center staff to avoid mobilization.