Law enforcement officer sold football tours abroad to persons liable for military service

Employees of the State Bureau of Investigation served a notice of suspicion to the head of a department of inspectors of the Border Guard Service in Odesa region.

According to the SBI press service, he and a former employee of the service organized a channel for smuggling men to unrecognized Transnistria.

In August 2025, the official decided to earn money by illegally transporting men across the state border outside checkpoints. The accomplice looked for willing men, and the password for the departure was a message about the availability of a ticket to participate in a football game. The cost of such a game was 3 thousand US dollars. For this amount, they were brought to the border and given instructions on how to bypass checkpoints.

On August 14, 2025, law enforcement officers detained the dealers while receiving payment for the service. They were notified of suspicion of organizing the illegal transportation of persons across the state border of Ukraine and a pre-trial restraint in the form of detention for 60 days with an alternative of bail of UAH 605 thousand was imposed. The sanction of the article provides for up to 9 years in prison.

Earlier, prosecutors of the Specialized Defense Prosecutor's Office in the Southern Region served a notice of suspicion to a law enforcement officer who tried to help a person liable for military service illegally cross the border. In July 2025, the suspect met with an acquaintance in one of Odesa's districts and agreed to smuggle the person liable for military service to the Republic of Moldova for USD 13 thousand. During the next meeting, he received a USD 1 thousand deposit.

Earlier, investigators completed a pre-trial investigation against a 27-year-old citizen of a neighboring country and sent to court a charge of facilitating the illegal transportation of persons across the state border of Ukraine.

Кирило Бойко