Ukrainian law enforcement officials discovered a large-scale draft evasion scheme involving falsified medical certificates, the National Police reported.
The on-going investigation includes extensive research across Ukraine's military commissions, including in Kyiv, Poltava, Vinnytsia, Dnipropetrovsk, Zakarpattia, Lviv, Odesa, Zhytomyr, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Cherkasy regions.
According to the investigation, officials of the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi territorial center for recruitment and social support, together with members of the military medical commission, charged between $7,000 to 10,000 to issue falsified certificates declaring a person unfit for military service due to a health condition. The cost of this "evasion service" depended on the petitioner's ability to pay, his place of residence and the urgency of departure, the special service notes.
"Evaders" were registered with the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi Central Committee and passed a military medical examination, but were ultimately declared unfit for military service and excluded from military registration due to health concerns.
After providing the falsified documents, local officials provided evaders with a route to flee the country through an international checkpoint in the Odesa region. Local officials in Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi also destroyed personal files, registration cards, and medical records in order to cover up any criminal activity. Ukrainian law requires such documentation be kept for a minimum of five years.
This investigation is ongoing.
Alexander Khrebet
(Updated: )
