In Zaporizhzhia, a private university enrolled men to help them obtain deferments from mobilization

The entire rectorate of a private university in Zaporizhzhia has been charged with falsifying the enrollment of men into postgraduate programs to help them avoid military mobilization.

This was reported by the press center of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).

According to the investigation, from late 2023 to mid-2024, the university’s rector and eight subordinates sold 2,966 fake postgraduate student IDs to men who neither took entrance exams nor attended classes. The service cost up to $5,000, after which the university administration demanded an additional 20,000 UAH (approximately €416) per person for two semesters.

Over the course of the scheme, the university’s leadership is said to have profited around 17 million UAH (approximately €353,700).

The suspects have been charged under four articles of the Ukrainian Criminal Code: creation of a criminal organization, bribery of officials, unauthorized actions involving information, and evasion of military service during mobilization. They face up to 12 years in prison along with the confiscation of property.