A mother and daughter from Pervomaisk will stand trial for a sham marriage

In Pervomaisk, Mykolaiv Oblast, a mother and daughter will stand trial for arranging a sham marriage for a man subject to military conscription. The women earned $3,000 from this scheme.

This was reported by the Mykolaiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office.

According to the investigation, in June 2026, a 55-year-old woman and her 37-year-old daughter, who has a third-degree disability, devised a scheme to illegally smuggle a man subject to military conscription out of the country.

Among the woman’s acquaintances, they found a man of draft age and offered him money to enter into a sham marriage with her daughter. After the marriage was registered, the man intended to cross the border while accompanying his “wife” with a disability.

Once the marriage was registered and the couple received their marriage certificate, the women received the agreed-upon sum—three thousand U.S. dollars—from the man. Immediately after the money was handed over, law enforcement officers detained both of them.

The indictment against the mother and daughter has already been submitted to the court. They are charged under Part 3 of Article 332 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine—organizing the illegal transportation of a person subject to military service across the state border for financial gain.

The women face seven to nine years in prison, along with a ban on holding certain positions or engaging in certain activities for up to three years, and confiscation of property.

As previously reported by Intent, an assistant judge at the Khadzhibey District Court in Odesa was caught attempting to leave Ukraine using a forged Moldovan ID card. The court found him guilty but did not impose a prison sentence.

Ірина Глухова