Walking to Romania for $20,000: A draft dodger and his guide were detained in Bukovina.

In the Chernivtsi region, border guards uncovered yet another attempt of illegal border crossing. They apprehended two men who were walking towards the state border with Romania.

According to reports from the State Border Guard Service, a local resident volunteered to help one man cross the border under the remote instructions of the scheme's organizer. For this journey, the resident of Ternopil agreed to pay 20,000 US dollars. The organizer managed to convince his “client” that for this amount, he would definitely get across the border without putting in much effort. However, the plans of the violators were thwarted by the border guards.

Materials regarding the illegal tourist have been prepared for an administrative offense. A notification has been sent to law enforcement regarding the organizer of the illegal crossing, whose whereabouts are being established, and his accomplice under Article 332 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The guide has been detained under Article 208 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine. He has been informed of the suspicion of committing a criminal offense and a preventive measure has been chosen in the form of detention with the possibility of bail.

Schemes for Draft Dodgers

A draft law has been submitted to the Verkhovna Rada proposing to prohibit courts from imposing lighter sentences or sentences with probation periods for draft dodgers. This also applies to individuals who organized illegal border crossings. The document stipulates a prison sentence of 7 to 9 years for such actions instead of the previous 3-5 years.

Recently, in the Chernivtsi region, border guards detained a group of draft dodgers who were attempting to flee abroad. They were accompanied by teenagers, who were the organizers of the scheme.

In Transcarpathia, border guards apprehended an entire group attempting to escape draft dodgers across the border. This included the smuggler, his “trainee,” and their “client” - the draft dodger himself. They were heading towards Slovakia.

In Odesa region, a military officer from the Territorial Center for Recruitment was detained for assisting draft dodgers. He was illegally smuggling conscription-age men abroad and charging up to 8,000 dollars for this. Their only route was to the unrecognized Transnistria.