Ukrainian men paid $15,000 to border guards to ‘dodge military draft'
National Police of Ukraine shared in a Telegram post that the group helped about 30 people leave Ukraine, which has imposed a ban on most men aged between 18 and 60 leaving the country following Russia 's invasion.
The group allegedly did this by listing them as disabled.
The prosecutor general's office said in a separate Telegram post how the scheme was started by a border guard officer and a businessman in Ukraine's western Zakarpattia region, who then recruited a second border guard and other accomplices.
Law enforcement agencies published photos of the detention of some of the suspects at their homes, showing large quantities of euro banknotes, multiple mobile phones, and luxury SUVs.
Many Ukrainians have volunteered to fight in the more than three-year-old war but hundreds of thousands of men have been compulsorily drafted into the military.
Ukrainian officials say they are now facing widespread attempts to avoid the draft.
Under Ukraine's mobilisation law, which came into effect in May 2024, Ukrainian men must join the military effort and and face the possibility of being sent to the frontlines. If they try to evade conscription, men risk penalties and condemnation.
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Reuters
7 hours ago
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Early findings show military drone fell in Poland, prosecutor says
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Daily Record
14 hours ago
- Daily Record
NATO war planes scrambled for second day after latest Russian attack on Ukraine
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ITV News
a day ago
- ITV News
Wife of British man killed whilst fighting in Ukraine tells of her heartache
Tim Scott talks to Stephanie Williams whose husband Alan was killed whilst fighting in Ukraine. The wife of a British man who was killed whilst fighting for Ukraine despite having no military experience says her life is now in limbo. Alan Williams, 35, from Wirral, has officially been declared as Missing In Action because his body has yet to be retrieved. His wife Stephanie says she had pleaded with him not to go but Alan who had two children and two step-children was determined to help the Ukrainian people. Stephanie says Alan had suffered with his mental health for a long time and earlier this year was hospitalised after attempting to take his own life. She said: "We later found out that the day after he got discharged, he applied for the Ukraine Foreign Legion, which we didn't know about straightaway. "I told our GP and mental health team what he'd planned to do in the hope that they'd see it as well this guy's tried to kill himself, he now wants to go to a war zone, suicide by war but he said that the structure would do him good. "We were gobsmacked that it was even something he was thinking about, scared, worried, we spent the four months trying to talk him out of it." Stephanie says Alan had hidden his passport because he knew she would confiscate it to stop him flying out there. Alan flew out to Ukraine on May 7 where he underwent training. The last time Stephanie spoke to him was on July 2 when his tone suddenly changed, after he told her he was embarking on his first mission.'I could tell by the way he was talking to me it was a dangerous mission,' she revealed. 'I noticed the difference in his tone and behaviour and it heightened my senses and I would literally wake up at five in the morning, check my phone, I would check it every hour, checking if he was online. On July 15 Stephanie got a call from a Ukrainian Sergeant to say Alan was missing in action, presumed dead. "His team got ambushed by four drones, one of them dropped a mortar eight metres away from where they were." "I've been told that Alan had his back to it when it dropped and was unresponsive immediately. Obviously they tried to go back for him, just check was OK, but mortars kept getting dropped on them. "So the lads that were there with him had to retreat because I know one was injured and I'm not sure about the other two. "They had to retreat, they kept calling him calling his call sign out and a friendly drone operator said, he's gone." Stephanie has been told it may be too dangerous for Alan's body to be recovered and is now in limbo. "It still doesn't feel real because we've got no closure even though we know by what we've been told that the likelihood is that he's dead and that it would be a miracle if he's just wounded somewhere, you still have that tiny bit of hope because we don't have the proof." Stephanie's Mum has now started fundraising to help support Stephanie as without the proof that Alan is dead she is unable to access financial help.
