In Odesa, the SBU detained ‘volunteer assistants’ of the TCC on suspicion of taking bribes

Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) has detained a group of volunteer assistants to the Territorial Recruitment Centers (TCCs) on Liustdorfska Road in Odesa.

A video of the detention appeared in local Telegram channels.

According to sources, the people in military uniform detained by SBU officers at the corner of Henerala Petrova and Komarova streets turned out to be volunteer assistants to the Khadzhibey district TCC from the so-called Volunteer Unit for Assisting Law Enforcement (PSPO).

Sources say these “volunteer assistants” have been served with a notice of suspicion for allegedly organizing a system of bribes and extortion, targeting draft-age men who were evading conscription.

Volunteer formations that assist the police and TCCs have repeatedly been at the center of scandals before. For example, members of such organizations have been caught engaging in hooliganism, including smashing car windows during TCC raids.

Magomed Aydamirov—an alleged organizer of a criminal gang in Odesa who was suspected of banditry and kidnapping and held in a pre-trial detention center—was also reportedly seen in 2025 as part of a PSPO group during document checks carried out by draft officers on Henuiezka Street.