Police charge 76 draft office officials across Ukraine

Ukrainian authorities have charged 76 officials from military recruitment centers as investigations into potential illegal draft deferrals continue, according to National Police chief Maksym Tsutskiridze, who spoke to Ukrinform on August 11. The police have also invalidated 6,500 fraudulent medical commission rulings. Since the onset of Russia's full-scale invasion, investigators have examined 428 criminal cases, with 105 cases already forwarded to court and ongoing pre-trial investigations in the remaining 323 cases.

Tsutskiridze emphasized that each case must be evaluated independently to safeguard the rights of citizens who have justifiable reasons for deferral or have been legally disqualified from military service. Law enforcement is scrutinizing possible illegal deferrals for nearly 2,500 individuals subject to military service, in addition to reviewing questionable rulings issued by military medical commissions; over 83,500 such rulings have been seized during investigations, with 6,500 of these deemed illegal and annulled.

Journalist Vitalii Glagola reported on August 6 that two former Mukachevo territorial recruitment center officials were charged, and previous searches at the Mukachevo TRC and its military medical commission targeted the potential illegal discharge of approximately 1,500 individuals, with around 500 reportedly leaving the country on the same day their discharge paperwork was processed.

Similar discrepancies have been identified across Ukraine. On July 30, Ukraine's State Bureau of Investigation disclosed a large-scale scheme at a Kyiv-based TRC, where registry data on individuals subject to military service was manipulated for $2,500 per case. Subsequently, a special operation named "Honest Draft" was launched, involving the examination of over 100 military recruitment centers nationwide.