Feb. 16, 2026, 5:07 p.m.
(PHOTO: DBR)
Employees of the State Bureau of Investigation have completed a pre-trial investigation against the head of a department of border guard inspectors in Odesa region.
According to the SBI press service, he is accused of organizing, together with a former employee of the service, the illegal transfer of men to unrecognized Transnistria outside checkpoints.
The investigation found that in the summer of 2025, the official set up an illegal side job using his official position. Together with an accomplice, he found people willing to leave through social media. The code signal was a message about the availability of tickets to a football game.
The cost of such a tour was 3 thousand US dollars. In exchange for this money, the men were taken to the border and promised unimpeded crossing with no checks. In August 2025, law enforcement officers detained the border guards while they were receiving payment.
They are accused of organizing the illegal transportation of persons across the state border, as well as of abuse of influence. The sanctions of the articles provide for up to 9 years in prison with confiscation of property.
Earlier in Odesa, one of the participants in the illegal migration scheme through fake marriages was placed under arrest. The police suspect that not only a group of intermediaries, but also an official from the Civil Registry Office is behind the scam. The investigation found that the participants in the scheme were looking for foreigners who wanted to legalize their stay in Ukraine and recruited Ukrainian citizens who were willing to agree to a fake marriage for money. According to law enforcement, an unidentified employee of the Prymorskyi Department of the Odesa Civil Registry Office played a separate role, facilitating the rapid processing of the necessary documents in exchange for a bribe.
The Bolhrad District Court in Odesa region also found a police captain guilty of taking a bribe and sentenced him to five years in prison with a three-year disqualification from holding positions in law enforcement agencies of Ukraine and confiscation of all his property.
Кирило Бойко