In Lviv, an indictment has been submitted to court against a 32-year-old Lviv resident, who is accused of organising the illegal transfer of men liable for military service from Ukraine to European Union countries for a monetary reward.
According to the investigation, during martial law the man set up a channel for men liable for military service to leave the country. For 14 thousand dollars he offered one of his clients several options for illegally crossing the state border: through official checkpoints or outside them, which differed in price.
The “client” chose the more expensive option, after which the accused involved an accomplice. The latter was to draw up a plan for the illegal border crossing via official checkpoints and provide the client with detailed instructions on what to do while crossing into the neighbouring state.
The suspect was exposed by investigators from the department for the investigation of particularly serious crimes of the investigative directorate of the Lviv region police, together with officers of the Strategic Investigations Department in Lviv region, under the procedural guidance of the Lviv Regional Prosecutor’s Office. On 23 February, he was detained in Lviv under Article 208 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine after receiving the full amount – 14 thousand dollars – from the “client”.
The pre-trial investigation in the criminal proceedings opened under Part 3 of Article 332 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (illegal transfer of persons across the state border of Ukraine) has been completed, and the indictment has been submitted to court. Under the article he is charged with, the accused faces imprisonment for a term of seven to nine years with disqualification from holding certain positions or engaging in certain activities for up to three years, and with confiscation of property.