SBU and National Police expose five more mobilisation evasion schemes, doctors among organisers

The Security Service of Ukraine and the National Police of Ukraine have shut down five new mobilisation evasion schemes and detained their organisers in various regions of Ukraine.

"For sums of up to $20,000, the schemers offered draft-age men ways to avoid conscription through forged documents or helped them flee abroad outside official crossing points," the SBU said on its Telegram channel on Monday.

In Kyiv region, SBU military counterintelligence detained a local married couple who offered citizens "inpatient treatment" followed by the issuance of fictitious conclusions confirming a second-degree disability. "It was established that to forge the medical documentation, a nurse at a regional tuberculosis clinic, together with her husband, enlisted acquaintances who were doctors of various specialisations," the statement said.

Law enforcement detained the couple in Bucha district red-handed while receiving payment from a client.

In Chernihiv region, a neurologist who was a member of a military medical commission was exposed for offering citizens fictitious hospitalisation in exchange for money, followed by the issuance of "serious diagnoses." "He enlisted two more local residents to find clients and pass on bribes," the statement said. It was documented that the suspect assigned a non-existent neurological condition to a draft-age man and sold him a certificate of unfitness for service on health grounds.

In Cherkasy region, a resident of Kyiv region was detained for trading in fictitious medical records and documents confirming second- and third-degree disabilities. "To forge the documentation, the suspect used personal connections among doctors and members of the expert team for assessing daily functioning (formerly the MSEC)," the SBU said.

In Dnipropetrovsk region, a local repeat offender serving time for drug offences was found to have simultaneously organised a channel for smuggling draft-age men seeking to evade mobilisation out of Ukraine into Moldova across the border. "To carry out the scheme, the prisoner enlisted four more accomplices outside prison who found clients and escorted them to the border area," the statement said. Law enforcement detained four scheme participants red-handed while receiving payment for smuggling a draft-age man abroad.

Also in the region, a taxi driver was served a suspicion notice for ferrying those seeking to evade service out of Ukraine. "His package of services included instructions on the escape route across the western border and remote guidance during the on-foot crossing of the terrain," the agency said.

The suspects have been served suspicion notices under several articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine corresponding to the crimes committed: Part 2 of Article 28 and Part 1 of Article 114-1 (obstruction of the lawful activities of the Armed Forces and other military formations during a special period, committed by a group of persons in conspiracy); Part 2 of Article 332 (illegal smuggling of persons across the state border of Ukraine); Part 3 of Article 369-2 (abuse of influence).

The measures were conducted under the procedural supervision of the Slobozhanska District Prosecutor’s Office in Dnipro, as well as the Kyiv, Chernihiv, Cherkasy and Dnipropetrovsk regional prosecutor’s offices.