Group smuggling draft dodgers caught in Lviv region

Police officers in the Lviv region have exposed a group of six criminals who organized a scheme to illegally transport military conscripts abroad. They created fictitious sole proprietorships that were engaged in international cargo transportation. The evaders were entered into the Shlyakh system as drivers, which gave them the opportunity to flee abroad.

As reported by the Lviv region police, the criminal group included six members - residents of the Lviv, Ternopil, and Zakarpattia regions.

The perpetrators created fictitious sole proprietorships that had the right to engage in international cargo and passenger transportation and entered men liable for military service into the "Shlyakh" system, which gave them the opportunity to travel outside Ukraine during martial law. Having left the country, the fictitious carriers did not return, but remained abroad.

During searches at the organizers of the scheme, law enforcement officers seized over $23,000 in cash, draft notes, communication equipment, and other physical evidence.

The detainees are being charged with illegal crossing of the state border (Part 3, Article 332 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). The perpetrators face imprisonment for a term of seven to 10 years with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for three years and confiscation of property.

Earlier, the State Bureau of Investigation in Transcarpathia completed a pre-trial investigation into suspects in organizing a scheme to evade mobilization through false diagnoses of mental disorders in conscripts. Six officials and doctors from the Beregov, Khust, and Vynohradiv districts of the region are accused of illegally transporting men across the border.

In addition, the State Bureau of Investigation exposed the leadership of a military unit in Lviv, which, for a reward, allowed soldiers to work at private service stations instead of serving .