Sept. 30, 2025, 3 p.m.
(One of the detainees. PHOTO: SBU)
SBU officers and the National Police documented and stopped the activity of a criminal scheme in Kherson region related to extortion and bribery.
This was reported by the SBU Office in Kherson region.
The organizers of the scheme were officials of the medical service of the Kherson Territorial Recruitment Center and the Military Medical Commission. They systematically demanded and received illegal benefits for their services.
The criminals offered to issue a fictitious diagnosis that would entitle them to a deferment from conscription. The cost of this illegal 'service' was USD 700. This amount guaranteed the evaders a deferral from mobilization every two months. The operatives detained the offenders while they were receiving a part of the bribe. During the searches conducted at the detainees' residences and in the hospital, law enforcement officers found the proceeds of crime.
The two officials have already been served a notice of suspicion under Part 3 of Art. 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (obtaining an undue advantage by an official, by prior conspiracy by a group of persons). They face up to 10 years in prison with confiscation of property and a ban on holding certain positions.
The court imposed a preventive measure on the suspects: the TEC official was taken into custody with the possibility of bail, and the head of the PEC was placed under house arrest. The pre-trial investigation is ongoing. The scheme was uncovered by the SBU in Kherson region and investigators of the Mykolaiv region under the supervision of the Prosecutor's Office of the Southern Region.
Катерина Глушко