Prosecutor's Office: Ministry of Defense lieutenant colonel transported men over mountains to Romania for €7,500

In Zakarpattia region, law enforcement officers detained a lieutenant colonel of the Ministry of Defense who, according to the investigation, was smuggling men with military service to Europe. This was reported by Office of the Prosecutor General and Security Service of Ukraine.

Prosecutors detain the deputy head of one of the Defense Ministry's military missions who organized the illegal transportation of men of military age out of Ukraine.

According to the investigation, the official promised the conscripts to organize transportation to the state border with further crossing through the mountainous and forested area of Rakhiv district to Romania.

The SBU clarified that the official used a company car with flashing beacons to avoid checks at checkpoints and deliver clients to those parts of the border from where they could cross the border by trails.

The cost of smuggling abroad is 7,500 euros per person. He was detained in Uzhhorod while receiving the next installment of the money.

The official was served a notice of suspicion under the article on illegal transportation of persons across the state border. A custody with a possibility of bail in the amount of UAH 908,000 was chosen as a measure of restraint.

• On July 29, a group offering fugitives to travel abroad under the guise of truckers and tourists was exposed. The organizer of the group left Ukraine and did not return.
• On August 13, it was reported that more than 150 simultaneous searches were conducted as part of a special operation to shut down channels for smuggling men abroad.
• On September 29, the SBI exposed border guards in Zakarpattia who sold information about routes to fugitives.