The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) detained the heads of the Bucha and Boryspil military enlistment offices over a suspected corruption scheme that allowed men to evade the draft, the SBU and the Prosecutor General’s Office said on Aug. 16.
The three arrested suspects, two of whom are the heads of local enlistment offices in Kyiv Oblast, made over $1.2 million through the scheme, the investigators said. The third suspect was said to be a citizen of an unspecified South Caucasus country.
According to the investigation, the suspects offered conscripts to forge documents about their inability to serve for health reasons and thus avoid conscription. The cost of such services amounted to $37,000 per person.
The forged documents were then used to remove potential recruits from the military register, allowing them to travel abroad. Men aged 18 to 60 are not allowed to travel abroad under martial law, except for some exceptions.
The enlistment officials engaged the third suspect to find men of conscription age and transfer money.
The SBU detained the suspected accomplice in a Kyiv restaurant when he was allegedly receiving $50,000 from new "clients." Both enlistment officials were then detained in their offices.
During searches in the third suspect's house, law enforcement officers found a large number of weapons, including a pistol with a silencer, the origin of which is currently being established.
The suspects face up to eight years in prison.
Ukraine recently updated the legal framework in order to ramp up mobilization this year amid manpower shortages. President Volodymyr Zelensky signed the new law on mobilization in April, introducing harsher penalties for those dodging the draft.
Military enlistment offices have come under increasing scrutiny after suspected instances of corruption and other violations. Following a broad-reaching probe in the summer of 2023, Zelensky dismissed all regional enlistment chiefs.
Nate Ostiller
(Updated: )
