Almost 45,000 men have illegally left Ukraine since the beginning of the invasion

Detention of suspects in a mobilisation evasion scheme in Mykolaiv. Photo: SBU

Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion, nearly 45,000 Ukrainian men of military age have illegally travelled abroad. Another 30,000 were detained while trying to cross the state border.

These figures were announced at a meeting of the Verkhovna Rada's Temporary Investigation Commission, which is investigating the circumstances of massive violations of the rules for the departure of persons liable for military service, writes MP Yuliia Yatsyk.

More than seven thousand criminal proceedings have already been opened as part of the investigation, but only a little over 400 have resulted in actual sentences.

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The commission noted that the schemes of illegal departure remain diverse, ranging from the use of fake medical certificates and documents on multiple children to evasion through the «Shliakh» system, registration of study or treatment abroad, or departure through the occupied territories to third countries. Some cases even involve dual citizenship.

The commission members emphasised that the closure of the «Shliakh» system, which was used to transport humanitarian goods, had significantly complicated the logistics of aid for the military. However, the system was used for abuse and uncontrolled departure of men who did not return to Ukraine within the specified timeframe.

One of the key problems is the lack of a clear list of documents that border guards must require from those crossing the border. Currently, each decision is made individually, without uniform standards. Moreover, the electronic system of the Border Guard Service does not store copies of the documents that served as the basis for the departure, making it virtually impossible to verify the legality of the border crossing.

Another concern is that the Border Guard Service does not keep systematic records of the return of persons who have left on a temporary basis, which leads to numerous cases where athletes, officials and other categories of citizens do not return on time and law enforcement officers learn about it too late.

The Commission also drew attention to possible abuses by government and military authorities who sent letters requesting permission to cross the border to specific individuals. The PIC noted that it has already requested documents related to these letters to verify and exclude the corruption component.

To recap, on the Ukrainian-Moldovan border, border guards and police detained a 45-year-old driver from Ukraine who was trying to illegally smuggle several men of military age to Moldova.