Lawyer wearing a mask of rapper 50 Cent detained in Zakarpattia for illegally smuggling people across the border

A Ukrainian lawyer has been detained for the third time for organizing the illegal smuggling of military-age men abroad.

The incident occurred in the Zakarpattia region, the regional prosecutor’s office announced on Facebook.

According to the prosecutor’s office, after his previous detentions and release on bail, the lawyer continued to organize illegal smuggling schemes. This time, for approximately €6,000, he was supposed to help a resident of Kharkiv illegally leave Ukraine.

“In Zakarpattia, a lawyer was detained for the third time — a man who, after posting bail, organized new money-making schemes involving illegal border crossings. This time, for $7,000, he was supposed to help a resident of Kharkiv illegally leave Ukraine. For the purposes of concealment, the suspect put on a mask bearing the image of a celebrity,” the prosecutor’s office said.

Judging by the photographs published by the prosecutor’s office, the lawyer used a mask bearing the image of rapper 50 Cent for concealment. The suspect is currently in custody.

Since February 2022, general mobilization has been in effect in Ukraine and has been extended on multiple occasions. The authorities are taking measures to prevent men of conscription age from evading military service. Videos of forced mobilization and confrontations between citizens and military recruitment office representatives in various cities across the country are regularly posted on Ukrainian social media.

In June, Ukraine’s Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets reported that more than 5.7 million Ukrainians had left the country since 2022.