Border guard from Odesa region sentenced to prison for transit of conscripts

A border guard from Odesa region was sentenced to prison for bribery. He received money for the unimpeded passage of men of military age through Moldova.

This was reported by the press service of the State Bureau of Investigation.

The court sentenced a border guard who organized illegal earnings on the passage of men of military age through the transit section of the road with Moldova.

According to the SBI investigation, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Russia, special restrictions have been imposed on the Odesa-Reni highway through Moldova. Border guards are obliged to inform territorial recruitment centers about men who are subject to mobilization and travel along this route.

The investigation established that in December 2024, the law enforcement officer decided to make money on the unimpeded passage of persons liable for military service. He offered a businessman he knew to transport such men through the checkpoint and demanded USD 300 from each of them for a "transit taxi".

In January 2025, the SBI stopped the border guard's illegal activities. The Bilyaevsky District Court of Odesa Region found him guilty of receiving an undue advantage by an official under Part 1 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine and sentenced him to two years in prison.

Recently, officers of the Podilskyi detachment detained five residents of different regions of Ukraine who were heading to the Transnistrian segment of the Ukrainian-Moldovan border in Odesa region. The operatives found out that the men were acting on the instructions of the organizer, a telegram channel administrator who advised them to buy military equipment, including camouflage, boots and backpacks, to remain less visible.

And in September, Artur Rudko, a former goalkeeper of the Odesa football clubChornomorets, was detained while trying to illegally leave Ukraine. He was planning to cross the border at the Transnistrian section of the Ukrainian-Moldovan border. Among the detainees were residents of different regions who followed instructions from a telegram channel, each of whom had to pay $8,000 in cryptocurrency.

Анна Бальчінос