Ukraine's Ministry of Defense has announced that the 18-year-old rape suspects have been denied mobilization into the armed forces. This was in response to reports of their attempts to avoid punishment through mobilization. The Ministry of Defense will also check the activities of the Obukhiv Military Commissariat, which accepted their appeals, reports UNN.
Context
Ukrainian writer and journalist Olena Pshenychna's social media accounts revealed that two young men aged 18, who are suspected of raping a girl in Zakarpattia, have been mobilized.
"At each stage of the Transcarpathian case of the rape of a minor girl, I saw different versions of the bottom. But today the bottom was broken again. Do you know by whom? By Tadam! By the Obukhiv TCC. Yes, dear friends, you did not imagine it. It was Obukhiv. The one in the Kyiv region. The court is in Volovets, the accused are in Nyzhni Vorota, and the guys were sentenced in Obukhiv," Olena Pshenychna wrote.
According to her, having reached the age of 18 and realizing that it would be impossible to avoid the sentence, the defendants, having every chance to complete the trial today, decided to mobilize. They did not appear at the morning court session because they had received a summons and had to be in Obukhiv.
Since citizens over the age of 25 are subject to mobilization in Ukraine, and the suspects have no military education, have not served in the military and are not reserve officers, it appears that they were mobilized voluntarily.
"That is, the guys and their moms consciously took this step. But not to their native TCC in Zakarpattia, but across the country to Obukhiv... this is not an isolated case. And this is where the most interesting part comes in. It was through the Obukhiv TCC that another accused of rape, police officers from Kaharlyk, were mobilized. They also decided to mobilize just before the verdict was announced," Pshenychna added.
What does the Defense Ministry say?
The defense ministry responded to the information about the rapists' self-mobilization and emphasized that "the suspects in this serious crime were denied mobilization to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
"In connection with a crime that has caused a significant public outcry and concerns the suspected rape of a minor, involving individuals who allegedly tried to mobilize into the Armed Forces to avoid punishment, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine reports the following.
As of now, it is known that the suspects in this serious crime were denied mobilization to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Despite their appeals to the Obukhiv Military Training Center and JV for contract military service, they were denied due to information about their possible involvement in a criminal offense.
The ministry notes that to clarify all the circumstances, it will send the Main Inspectorate of the Ministry of Defense to conduct a detailed inspection of the activities of the Obukhiv TCC and the JV.
"If any signs of a criminal offense are found, the materials will be transferred to the State Bureau of Investigation," they added.
Recall
In the summer of 2021, in the village of Verkhni Vorota in Zakarpattia, three teenagers raped a 14-year-old girl and recorded it on video, which they later sent to their peers.