Prosecutors of the Office of the Attorney General, together with the Main Investigation Department of the Security Service of Ukraine, have exposed and detained a deputy of the Volyn Regional Council.

During the pre-trial investigation, his involvement in a criminal organization was documented, the members of which established a scheme for evading mobilization and illegal departure abroad for men of conscription age.

The deputy has been notified of suspicion of committing a criminal offense under part 2 of Article 255 (participation in a criminal community or criminal organization), part 1 of Article 114-1 (obstruction of the lawful activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations), and part 3 of Article 332 (illegal transportation of persons across the state border of Ukraine) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

In addition to him, the criminal group included assistants of the Economic Court of Rivne Region, heads of charitable foundations, and other individuals. The group was led by a former deputy head of the Volyn Regional State Administration, who is already in custody, and the indictment against her is currently under consideration in court.

Since August 2022, the participants of the group have illegally transported over 100 conscripted individuals abroad. The suspects entered the data of men into the "Path" system, which allowed them to cross the border without hindrance. According to the investigation, the cost of such a service was about 5 thousand USD per person, and the money was transferred to the members of the criminal organization through intermediaries.

Today, a series of searches were conducted in the Volyn and Khmelnytskyi regions at the residence and location of the suspect.

Currently, the court has already issued guilty verdicts for seven permanent participants of the criminal organization, who entered into agreements with prosecutors to plead guilty by providing incriminating testimony against their accomplices.

Note: according to Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is presumed innocent of committing a crime and cannot be subjected to criminal punishment until their guilt is proven in a lawful manner and established by a court verdict.