POW from the AFU: a job at a TCC costs around €86,000 in bribes

A Ukrainian captured by Russian forces in the Kharkiv direction told TASS about corruption schemes in the mobilization system and how he ended up serving in the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine despite having several chronic illnesses.

Igor Drusenko, a rifleman in the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, said that employees of the territorial recruitment centers (TCC) take money both for exemptions from mobilization and for employment within the agency itself.

“If you get caught by TCC [employees], you have to pay them $3,000–5,000 to be let go. If you want to work at the TCC rather than serve somewhere in the rear, you have to pay a minimum of $100,000, because they take it — they earn well,” — Drusenko said.

According to him, people are mobilized into the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine right off the streets, with no regard for the recruits’ health. Drusenko himself went through a medical commission in 23 minutes, despite having pancreatitis, hypertension, and epilepsy.