In the Rivne region, law enforcement officers detained members of a group that organized the illegal transportation of military personnel from military units to evade service in defense forces.
This is reported by Rivne24
Group Activities
The criminal group operated in the territories of Volyn, Lviv, Rivne, Zhytomyr, and Chernivtsi regions. According to available data, since November 2025, group members were involved in at least ten cases of illegal transportation of military personnel.
The operation to dismantle the group was conducted by operatives of the Strategic Investigations Department of the National Police in conjunction with the State Bureau of Investigations. It was established that the participants were searching for military personnel who wished to leave service voluntarily, providing them assistance in fleeing and subsequent hiding.
Concealment Methods
The cost of the “services” for evasion ranged from 8 to 15 thousand dollars depending on the complexity of execution. Avoidance of detection was ensured by using rented vehicles, changing license plates, as well as employing GPS trackers and special mobile devices for coordinating actions.
Additionally, the group exploited corrupt connections in medical institutions to organize fictitious treatment for military personnel in civilian hospitals, from which their “abduction” occurred.
On May 7, law enforcement officers detained the organizer of the group and two of his accomplices during another “abduction” of a military personnel involving the transfer of 8 thousand dollars. Another group member was detained under Article 615 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine, as well as three individuals who had left the unit without permission.
As part of the special operation, 23 searches were conducted in the territories of Volyn and Rivne regions, where weapons, including unregistered ones, vehicles, phones, medical documentation, and rough notes were seized.
Based on the collected evidence, six individuals were suspected – both group members and military personnel. Their actions were qualified under parts 5 of Article 407 (Desertion from a military unit or place of service) and 4 of Article 408 (Desertion) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Preventive measures were chosen for all.