18 September 2026, 12:52
In the Odesa region, a farmer was charged in connection with a reservation scheme
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Photo: Odesa Regional Police
In the Odesa region, a farmer is suspected of extorting $6,000 in exchange for removing a conscript from the wanted list and subsequently exempting him from military service through a fictitious job placement.
According to the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for Defense Affairs in the Southern Region, the founder of a company in the Odesa region offered a conscript—who was wanted for violating military registration rules—to “resolve the issue” with the Territorial Recruitment Center and the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for $6,000.
In exchange for this money, he promised to influence officials to remove the man from the“Oberig” system’s wanted list and register him through fictitious employment at a company with “critically important” status.
To force the man to transfer the money, the suspect threatened him with possible mobilization measures. The man subject to military service transferred 8,500 hryvnias to the specified account.
Later, the suspect demanded an additional 6,000 dollars—4,000 dollars were to be paid immediately, and the remainder after the man was actually removed from the wanted list.
In September 2026, while receiving the agreed-upon portion of the sum, law enforcement officers detained the man.
According to the National Police, the 48-year-old farmer was caught engaging in illegal schemes. The court ordered him to be held in pretrial detention, with the option of posting bail in the amount of 502,528 hryvnias.
He was charged with abuse of influence. The penalty under this article provides for up to 8 years of imprisonment with confiscation of property.
As Intent recently reported, another farm in the Odesa region has become the subject of criminal proceedings. Law enforcement officials are investigating the possible misuse of the status of a “critically important enterprise” to evade mobilization.
