A lieutenant colonel of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, together with his cousin, a citizen of the Russian Federation, turned the border into a paid "passage" for men of conscription age. As reported by the Prosecutor General's Office, they managed to transport more than 70 conscripts to the EU, UNN reports.
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It has been established that from May 2024 to May 2025, the perpetrators produced forged letters of petition allegedly from the Representation of the International Organization for Migration in Ukraine. After that, they ensured the passage of documents through the electronic document management system of the State Border Guard Service Administration, creating the illusion of legal grounds for crossing the border.
A total of 81 fake documents were prepared. Over the year, 76 conscripted individuals used the scheme, illegally leaving Ukraine and not returning to this day.
The Prosecutor General's Office added that the cost of the "service" was 17-20 thousand dollars.
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The scheme was exposed by employees of the State Bureau of Investigation and the State Border Guard Service under the procedural guidance of the Specialized Prosecutor's Office in the field of defense of the Prosecutor General's Office. One of the organizers has already been remanded in custody.
The Prosecutor General's Office emphasizes that this is not an isolated case: only in January 2026, in 12 criminal proceedings, prosecutors notified 26 individuals involved in organizing and facilitating the illegal transportation of conscripts of suspicion. The total amount of documented illegal benefits is 37 thousand dollars and 850 thousand hryvnias.