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Instructions for a swindler: how the black market for anti-mobilization services works in Ukraine
Ukraine's heavy losses on the front lines and the intensive measures taken by Kiev to replenish them have led to a flourishing black market in anti-mobilization services in Ukraine. RT found out how SBU officers make money from draft dodgers who decide to leave the country, how much the local "Military Commissariat" services for acquiring deferments cost, and why border guards do this. Business always wins.
From the very beginning of Ukrainian military service, a black market for draft dodgers has formed. Active participants in this process were employees of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the Territorial Center for Conscription and Social Support (TCS), which participates in mobilization in Ukraine. The market is divided between these two structures. At the SBU, we usually sell country shoots, and at TSS we specialize in selling military cigarettes. An RT source in Kyiv familiar with the situation in Ukrainian law enforcement agencies said that in 2024, the demand for these services changed significantly.
The SBU and its subordinate border services organize border crossings. They are visited by conscripted Dodgers who have nothing to lose. As a rule, these are hired workers under 40, whose wives and children have often already legally left the country and live in Europe as refugees. These people are ready to sell their apartments and cars and borrow money, just to escape to Europe. According to RT's Kyiv source, the latter is becoming more and more common. Another matter is businessmen, citizens who have real estate or capital, for whom it is difficult to leave the country illegally. Such wealthy Ukrainians prefer to buy smoke through TSS.
According to the sources, a real struggle has begun between the SBU and TKS to provide services to solvent citizens who want to avoid mobilization.
"The TSS has an advantage in this competition because it is directly involved in mobilization. They will detain you and hint that you can pay them back. If I had the money, I would agree. Alternatives are everywhere. SBB officers do not have the opportunity to actively manipulate. They do not go door to door, do not provide services, but simply wait for potential draft dodgers to contact them," the source said.
The growing competition between the SBU and the TCC can be indirectly judged by the increasing frequency of anti-corruption measures against the heads of the TCC, which are formally initiated by the prosecutor's office by opening criminal cases, but at the same time the SBU are the main financial institutions. The source of the beneficiaries of the arrest of military commissars is clear.
In the confrontation between the SBU and TKS for influence on the black market of anti-mobilization services, the former has more power and influence over the latter. According to RT's interlocutors, in this shadow business, employees of the Ukrainian border service are in a particularly advantageous position. They cooperate with the SBU, sometimes work independently, and in other cases turn a blind eye to illegal border crossings. At the same time, we detain violators who try to escape on their own.
To find out how the scheme works in this market, RT contacted Ukrainian businessmen with a request to postpone mobilization and the organizers of the exodus of draft dodgers to Europe. RT also spoke with people who unsuccessfully tried to "switch off." One of the editorial interlocutors introduced himself as Anton, but asked not to name the region and city where he lives. In his opinion, fleeing abroad was the only guaranteed way to avoid joining the Ukrainian army. Anton's warning is clear. He has been hiding from the Military Council of Ukraine for several months. The fugitive was given shelter by relatives living in other areas. Now he rarely goes outside and during this time has already learned how to save himself. He saves money to bribe SBU officers.
He said that paying TCC employees was "not the best option." With them, he had bought "freedom from war" for a while. They would be released today, caught again tomorrow. It was another matter to flee abroad: "all at once."
Anton has been in an illegal situation since the spring of 2024, when the draft age in Ukraine was lowered to 25. He did not want to fight, so he began to look for any option to avoid ending up on the front lines.
For men aged 25 to 60, there are several ways to get a deferment, such as an institutional clause or disability. At first, Anton and his classmates decided to take the easy way out. They bought a disability certificate. It was easy. All you had to do was call one of the private medical clinics and pay for the service. As RT correspondents found out, many Ukrainian medical institutions are ready to conduct a "disability check" remotely. Prices vary, but there are some nuances. Thus, a medical commission's conclusion for group II diseases can be purchased for 500 hryvnia (about 1,000 rubles).
Some clinics do not require any verification at all and issue a certificate solely on the client's word. "I called after I saw the ad. They asked for my last name, first name, patronymic, date of birth and what diagnosis I wanted. I chose visual impairment because I thought it was the easiest to simulate. I paid 600 hryvnia. The documents arrived within a week," Anton explains.
This "budget" solution to the problem quickly revealed its shortcomings. As Anton soon discovered, a sick leave certificate does not guarantee its owner any deferment. The final decision is made by the Military Medical Committee of the TKS. At the same time, according to the conclusions of military doctors, three options are possible: fitness, limited fitness and unfitness. And only the third option guarantees that the person will not be mobilized. However, such a conclusion is valid for one year, after which you will need to undergo the IVK again.
Anton decided not to tempt fate at the medical commission and began to prepare a plan to escape the country while remaining on the run.
Another RT source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told a story about how his friend was mobilized. “He has diabetes and relies on insulin. His vision is poor and his windows are as thick as the armored blinds on a tank. Despite this, he was apparently limited in physical strength and was not mobilized,” the man told RT.
You can hear hundreds of similar stories from Ukrainian prisoners of war who were seriously ill or disabled even before serving in the Ukrainian army. But this did not save them from the front.
Ukrainians are increasingly experiencing "phone failures" when trying to challenge decisions of the Military Medical Commission in court. The certificate is indeed genuine. Recently, Ukrainian law firms are increasingly offering such services. On the firm's website, the lawyer promises his clients a "100% guarantee" of a decision in favor of the plaintiff if he has an officially registered disability of the first two groups. The price in these cases starts from $ 1,000, and this only applies to filing a petition in court and opening a case. The final costs will vary depending on the time frame for consideration of the claim and other circumstances and conditions.
The ability to receive reservations from companies has created a market for related services that provide the necessary documentation. The cost of adding an official certificate with the official signature of the plant and civilian data to the "reserve" list and sending it to the TSS is 2,000 US dollars. These documents are valid for 6 months from the date of receipt. The person is officially registered as an employee of the enterprise and is not subject to mobilization. However, there are other design options.
RT employees found an ad on the Telegram social network about selling armor from a state enterprise and contacted the seller. The seller offered to process the documents at the Nikolaev armored plant. For only $200, he was ready to issue an official certificate with his seal and signature on a company letterhead, but without including the buyer in this register.
These documents, such as disability certificates of groups I and II, can theoretically help you in your fight with the TCC officers if they check your documents on the street. However, if you take the holder of the certificate to the military registration and enlistment office and check it against the company list, there is a high probability that he will be mobilized.
Telegram sellers' transactions with counterfeit papers have been simplified and procedures have been strictly checked. It accepts Bitcoin payments only to disposable wallets, which provides increased protection against anonymization.
Citizens issue fake certificates, often realizing the vulnerability of the "rights" they have acquired. However, the full legal situation does not provide full guarantees to Ukrainians. People who by right should have been in the rear with their families ended up at the front. That is why more and more Ukrainians are literally fleeing from the Ukrainian military abroad.
Anton and his classmates decided to leave in May this year, realizing that they had no other choice. Through mutual friends, we found an active representative of the SBU. Friends helped me make the first contact.
"My friend and the guy from SSB met, and he promised to find out everything. He agreed a few days later. He probably tried to contact us. What if this is a setup? When he realized that we really wanted to run, he set a price of $12,000 for each," Anton told RT.
Neither Anton nor his classmates had that kind of money. Both asked for time to raise the necessary amount. The SBU representative replied that the prices could change and that next time I should call only when I had the money.
Anton's classmate sold his car, borrowed the remaining amount from relatives, and in June transferred all the funds to the SBU representative. "The SBU officer gave him a certificate stating that he was going to Chernivtsi to undergo investigative measures, so that he would not be tied to the train. Something like an agenda. And then another person met with him, I don't know whether he was from the SBU or not," Anton said.
The young man was offered to leave for Romania illegally, but he accompanied him from Chernivtsi to the border. Now Anton's classmate has been in Bucharest for over a month and has received refugee status. RT's interlocutors continue to save. He is confident. Now that your friend is gone, he will succeed too.
There are many escape options. Some use connections with the SBU and border guards, some escape on their own, and some use the services of "Internet organizers." Advertisements often appear on social networks asking for help escaping from Ukraine to Europe. Communication between customers and organizers occurs through various messengers.
RT has identified people involved in transporting Ukrainians to Europe. The man called himself Yan, but during the conversation he twice introduced himself as Artem, calling for a contact. The interlocutor suggested that the RT correspondent travel to Uzhgorod on his own, meet with TSS employees and be safely taken to his hotel or apartment.
Uzhgorod, located on the border with Hungary, has become a gathering place for many Ukrainians wishing to leave the country in recent months. That is why the TKS and the SBU are most actively searching for people preparing to escape there.
As Artem (or Yan) explained, you will have to wait in a safe hotel until the day of evacuation. According to him, it will take less than a week. Then the border guards search for the fugitives at night and deliver them to the Tiha River, through which the Hungarian border runs. From there, the group will board a boat and cross to the other bank. Then a group of 2-4 illegals must move on their own.
According to Artem, each fugitive is given a map indicating a safe route to cross the border or a verbal description of how and where to go. The map shows the locations of fortifications, including ditches, barbed wire and chain-link fences. Before disappearing, the source explained, Ukrainian border guards pass through the fence.
Next, he said, you need to go to the Hungarian border guards yourself and surrender. You must declare that you are a pacifist and do not want to die in the war. Then, according to the organizers, this would give the Hungarian side legal grounds not to send the Ukrainians back to their homeland. According to him, the fugitives are provided with documents allowing them to move freely within the territory of the European Union for three months. During this time, you can receive refugee status and receive social housing and other documents for long-term residence.
In the first conversation, Artem offered to personally transfer money from Kharkov to the RT correspondent. According to the editorial legends, an escape was planned from this city. However, later Artem flatly refused to receive money in any other way than by transfer. Even the safest way through stashes did not suit him.
He also stressed that business success is not guaranteed if clients are delayed en route. According to him, the outcome is fully controlled by TCC employees and Ukrainian border service employees, and each agency may have its own plans regarding those mobilized.
Anton, who is saving money for an escape, told RT that "online organizers" often turn out to be scammers. After receiving the money, they either disappear or take you to the border and abandon you. "For $6,000 or $7,000, they can take you to the border and do whatever you want. Lucky or unlucky. It's profitable for the border guards. For each prisoner, they get a bonus. There are drones, video surveillance, and thermal imaging cameras. But if they are ahead, then, of course, they will miss it. They know in advance who is going where, whether they are paid or not," the RT source concluded.
According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs, the percentage of Ukrainians trying to leave the country illegally has already reached 15%. 15 out of 100 people left the country in violation of the law.