Kyiv region suspects charged over bribery scheme helping soldiers desert
Employees of the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), together with the National Police and the Military Law Enforcement Service of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, exposed a group that was taking servicemen away from their places of duty for money and helping them hide.
This was reported by the State Bureau of Investigation on August 4.
According to the investigation, the corruption scheme was organized by a resident of the Kyiv region. She involved a law enforcement officer in the deal, who searched for drivers, coordinated their actions, and instructed servicemen who voluntarily left their place of duty. The drivers directly picked up servicemen from units and transported them to designated locations.
As reported by the State Bureau of Investigation, investigators managed to document an episode that occurred in October 2025.
For $13,000, the participants in the scheme organized the escape of a serviceman. They helped to hide the fact of his voluntary desertion, and later promised to issue him an illegal reservation and forged documents for the voluntary formation of a territorial community.
In June 2026, SBI employees recorded two more attempts to take out military personnel.
The defendants planned to receive $5,000 for each of them. In one case, they additionally demanded $2,000, allegedly for “resolving the issue” if the serviceman was detained by law enforcement officers.
According to the investigation, the suspects were "caught red-handed" in July 2026, after they were given $7,000. The organizers and the law enforcement officer are charged with aiding and abetting desertion and obstructing the lawful activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. One of the drivers is suspected of aiding and abetting desertion - Part 3 of Article 27, Part 4 of Article 408, Part 3 of Article 27, Part 2 of Article 28, Part 1 of Article 114-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
Also, according to the case materials, one of the drivers who transported the servicemen was himself in the act of leaving the place of duty without authorization. He is additionally charged with Part 5 of Article 407 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
The articles carry penalties of up to 12 years in prison.
The court chose preventive measures in the form of detention with the possibility of bail for all suspects.
As a reminder, in Vinnytsia, a priest is suspected of taking a bribe for helping to avoid mobilization.
