19 January 2026
(PHOTO: DBR)
Employees of the State Bureau of Investigation detained the deputy commander of a training center in Odesa region on suspicion of facilitating military personnel's evasion from service for money.
This was reported by the SBI press service.
According to the investigation, the military officer offered military personnel assistance in leaving the place of service without permission in exchange for money. In case of refusal to pay, the official threatened to send the servicemen to the hottest spots of the front.
According to the investigation, the defendant approached the relatives of the servicemen who were being trained at the training center and offered to negotiate with the unit's leadership on evading military service for a reward. With his assistance, the soldiers were first sent to a medical facility to undergo a military medical commission, from where they could leave the unit without permission.
SBI officers detained the official while he was receiving USD 4 thousand from a relative of one of the soldiers. The detainee has been served a notice of suspicion of receiving an undue benefit for influencing decision-making by officials. The issue of choosing a measure of restraint is being decided. The sanction of the article provides for up to 8 years in prison.
Earlier, the Kyiv District Court found an Odesa resident, who worked as a director of the limited liability company Zimen Crew Management and an associate professor of the Department of Ship Navigation and Navigational Arms at the Institute of Naval Forces at the Odesa Maritime Academy, guilty of extortion. He was fined 51 thousand hryvnias.
In court, he sincerely repented and pleaded guilty. The court also took into account his disability, official employment, positive characteristics, and two children whose education he pays for.
Кирило Бойко