Reservations and "dead souls": Ukrainian official in Mykolaiv pleads guilty

In Mykolaiv, the head of a railroad car depot ran a scheme with fictitious employment of his son to protect him from mobilization, and at the same time embezzled funds through "dead souls." The court approved the plea agreement and sentenced him to a term of imprisonment.

This is evidenced by the decision of the Zavodskyi District Court of Mykolaiv.

According to the investigation, the defendant, who held the position of head of the production unit of the passenger car depot at the Mykolaiv station of the Passenger Company branch of Ukrzaliznytsia, used his official position to implement several illegal schemes.

Scheme to "reserve" his son from mobilization

The investigation established that no later than July 2025, the official developed a plan to avoid mobilization of his son. To do this, he organized his fictitious employment as a passenger car conductor, a job that gave him the right to be reserved from the draft.

Since the son did not have the appropriate education and skills, the official conspired with an unidentified person who produced a fake certificate of the allegedly acquired profession of conductor. The document was issued on behalf of a specialized educational institution.

This forged document, along with an application for employment, was subsequently submitted to the depot's HR department. On its basis, in August 2025, an order was issued to officially employ the defendant's son for a year.

A few days later, he submitted a list of employees for booking through the state electronic portal, including his son. As a result, he received a deferral from mobilization until the end of January 2026, without actually intending to perform his official duties. The investigation considered these actions as deliberate obstruction of the lawful activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Forgery of documents and abuse of office

In addition, the court found that the defendant deliberately used forged documents to obtain employment. He knew for sure that his son had not undergone appropriate training and did not have the necessary qualifications, but he still secured his employment.

Thus, the official's actions were also qualified as the use of a knowingly forged document.

Embezzlement through "dead souls"

A separate episode in the case was the misappropriation of funds from Ukrzaliznytsia. According to the investigation, in the spring of 2025, the official organized the fictitious employment of a woman as an auxiliary worker.

In fact, she did not perform any work, but instead gave the manager access to her bank card, to which she was paid. Between May and October 2025, the official embezzled more than 33 thousand hryvnias, which were received as the employee's salary.

He applied a similar scheme to his own son: after fictitious employment, he handed over to his father the bank card to which his salary was transferred. In this way, the defendant seized more than 15 thousand hryvnias. The total amount of losses amounted to over UAH 48 thousand.

The court's decision

The court found the defendant guilty under several articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, including

• obstructing the activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine during a special period;
• seizure of property by abuse of office under martial law;
• use of a forged document.

The court sentenced him to probation supervision for two years. He was also charged with more than UAH 7,000 for the cost of the examinations.

In January, investigators from the Security Service of Ukraine launched an investigation into a scheme to evade mobilization at railway companies. According to the investigation, the management of the depot organized a system whereby citizens received employment and documents to avoid conscription in exchange for a bribe. The official also demanded the salaries of some employees and appropriated them for himself.

Анна Бальчінос