Ukrainian authorities expose draft evasion schemes and foreign intelligence plots

Ukrainian law enforcement and intelligence agencies have uncovered several illegal operations involving military deferments, desertion assistance, and foreign espionage plots targeting service members.

In Kyiv Oblast, authorities dismantled a corruption ring at private lyceums where military-age men paid up to $10,000 upfront plus monthly fees to be falsely registered as teachers. Separately, the State Bureau of Investigation charged three individuals for orchestrating a scheme that smuggled active soldiers away from military facilities for fees ranging from $5,000 to $13,000. Officials also highlighted fraudulent marriages with women with disabilities as an increasingly common deferment tactic.

Additionally, military counterintelligence foiled more than 50 Russian plots involving recruited women attempting to kill Ukrainian soldiers using poison or explosives on staged dates. Meanwhile, the Council of Europe issued its initial evaluation of Ukraine's progress in implementing the Istanbul Convention on domestic and gender-based violence.

Sources: Liga net, NV, Radio Svoboda, Slidstvo.Info, Ukrainska Pravda