Employees of the State Bureau of Investigations have uncovered and blocked an illegal scheme for smuggling servicemen from a training ground in the Rivne region. As a result of the operation, the organizer of the scheme and two servicemen who used his services were detained.
This is reported by Rivne24
According to the investigation, a civilian individual was seeking out servicemen who wished to leave the service through acquaintances and relatives. He instructed them on the methods and timing of exiting the training center’s territory, and then picked them up by car and transported them home or to other locations.
The cost of such a “service” was no less than 5,000 euros for each serviceman. The organizer received payment in advance from the relatives of the servicemen. According to operational data, this scheme had been functioning since the end of 2025.
On the night of March 18, 2026, law enforcement officers detained the organizer during another attempt to smuggle a serviceman out of the training center. Another serviceman who had previously used this scheme was found at his place of residence.
Currently, a possible connection of this scheme with officials of the training center is being investigated.
Two servicemen are suspected of desertion under martial law (Part 4 of Article 408 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine), while the civilian is suspected of organizing this crime (Part 3 of Article 27, Part 4 of Article 408 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
The penalty for this article includes imprisonment for up to 12 years.