Dmytro Yagunov, Dmytro Tupchiienko: New War – New Crimes, or How the Russian Invasion Changed the Criminal Landscape in Ukraine

Ukrainian legal and law-enforcement practices demonstrate how unprepared Ukraine’s criminal justice system was for the challenges of war. To avoid Ukraine’s mistakes, the EU states need to consider this experience.

Given that war is a total mobilisation and military service with a constant threat to life, it is natural that a large number of men resorted to committing crimes in order to avoid military service, using both tools to avoid conscription in the country and to leave Ukraine illegally on the basis of forged documents. Consequently, corruption at the border has become a major source of illicit enrichment. Most cases of illicit enrichment are linked to abuses at the border[1].

As the State Border Service of Ukraine announced in May 2025, since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the imposition of martial law, attempts by around 49 thousand men liable for military service to leave Ukraine illegally have been stopped. Almost 45 thousand people have been detained attempting to illegally cross the border and were stopped in the ‘green zone’ of the border or at checkpoints or roadblocks in the border area. To this number can be added the detention of violators at checkpoints, which is about 4000 people[2].

Case 1. Medical and Social Expert Commissions (MSEC)

Firstly, it is necessary to mention the widespread tendency towards corruption in specialised medical institutions responsible for determining the fitness or unfitness of individuals to serve in the Armed Forces or other paramilitary formations.

In early October 2024, law enforcement officers arrested Tetyana Krupa, the Head of the Khmelnytskyi Regional MSEC, on suspicion of illegal enrichment. During searches, almost $6 million was seized from the woman. On the same day, the Head of one of the MSECs in Kharkiv was also detained. According to the Security Service of Ukraine, he and his accomplices organised a scheme to evade mobilisation.

Many Ukrainians were shocked by images of millions of dollars in cash found in the office of the Head of an agency that determines people’s disability status. These cases have once again drawn attention to the activities of the entire MSEC system in Ukraine, which has long been the subject of numerous complaints and calls for reform, especially during martial law.

Last spring, the Ministry of Health announced plans to reform the MSEC, and the Minister even stated that these commissions would cease to exist from 2025.

A medical and social expert commission (MSEC) is essentially a large group of narrowly specialised medical professionals. They meet to decide whether a person is entitled to disability benefits.

MSECs have existed in Ukraine since 1992, when they replaced the medical and labour expert commissions of the Soviet era. These commissions are subordinate to the Ministry of Health. They are divided into regional, city, inter-district and district commissions, as well as a central commission in Kyiv.

In order to obtain a disability group, a patient must undergo an MSEC examination, for which a referral is required. An MSEC certificate is the basis for calculating cash benefits and other social benefits.

In 2023, law enforcement agencies investigated about 100 cases of corruption in the MSEC bodies. However, allegations of bribery against the MSEC were made long before the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

In particular, the case of soldier Petro Oleksyuk gained widespread attention when he was asked for a bribe to establish his disability status during an MSEC examination after being wounded in 2018. After the man appealed to law enforcement agencies, the doctors who demanded the bribe and the MSEC premises were searched and about 130000 US dollars was seized.

Only in 2024, based on materials from the SBU, 64 MSEC officials were suspected of committing crimes, and another nine people have already been convicted. In addition, on the initiative of the Ukrainian special services, 4106 disability certificates issued on the basis of fictitious documents have been revoked[3].

However, after the start of the full-scale war, the number of injuries among both military personnel and civilians increased significantly, and as a result, MSEC services became even more in demand.

For example, on 19 August 2025, law enforcement officers exposed the former Head of the Central MSEC and his accomplices in a fictitious disability scheme. The former Head of the Central MSEC and seven members of an organised group have been charged with abuse of office and forgery of official documents. They are suspected of systematically issuing medical examination reports and disability certificates to citizens who did not actually have legal grounds for them[4].

Case 2. Corruption in Military Recruitment Centres

Secondly, there is an explosion of corruption in the military recruitment centres.

In early June 2025, the former Commander of the Odessa Regional Territorial Centre for Recruitment and Social Support, Yevhen Borysov, was once again remanded in custody. An alternative preventive measure was set at a bail of 20 million UAH.

As of today, the Main Investigation Department of the State Bureau of Investigations is conducting a pre-trial investigation against Yevhen Borysov under the following articles of the Criminal Code: Article 114-1 – organisation of obstruction of the lawful activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine during a special period; Article 366 – organisation of the compilation and issuance by an official of a knowingly false official document.

The case concerns the fact that Yevhen Borysov’s family purchased real estate and cars worth millions of dollars on the Spanish coast during the War.

In May 2025, the State Bureau of Investigation opened criminal proceedings under Part 5 of Article 426-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine and suspended the military commissar from his post.

After the scandal with the property in Spain, President Zelensky gave an urgent order to the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to immediately dismiss Yevhen Borisov from his post as Odessa military commissar.

On 19 July 2023, the Head of the National Agency oof Ukraine on Prevention of Corruption announced that Yevhen Borysov had embezzled 188 million UAH, a record amount of illicit enrichment. On 22 July 2023, Yevhen Borysov was charged with illegal enrichment of hundreds of millions of hryvnias and deliberate evasion of military service.

The former official attempted to flee from the investigation, using various means of concealment, such as changing his phone numbers, cars, and location.

In 2024, two cases against Yevhen Borysov were referred to court. In particular, they concerned illegal enrichment, trips to Spain and the Seychelles instead of serving in the military, and document forgery.

However, illegal enrichment through bribes from conscripts is far from the only example of criminal activity caused by the War.

Several corruption schemes have been uncovered in the military recruitment centre system, ranging from the sale of fake draft notices to abuse of authority.

Since the beginning of 2025, law enforcement agencies have uncovered several corruption schemes in the military recruitment centre system.

In the Odesa region, a 24-year-old soldier from a local military recruitment centre sold fake draft notices to men of conscription age. He promised one of the conscripts a document that would allow him to move freely throughout Ukraine for six days. For this, the military businessman demanded a thousand dollars and later increased the amount by another 2000 UAH.

In addition, the State Bureau of Investigations reported corruption schemes in which officers offered to ‘resolve issues’ with updating military registration data in exchange for money.

In January 2025, a lieutenant colonel offered a conscript to update his data through ‘his people’ at the Kyiv military recruitment centre for 4000 dollars. After paying, the conscript went through the procedure, but it was illegal.

For other ‘clients,’ he offered an alternative option through the military recruitment centre in Volyn. For $9000, he promised to prepare the necessary documents and said that he would fill out the required applications himself, draw up a fictitious lease agreement for the ‘clients’ to live in Volyn, and pass the military medical examination on their behalf.

In April 2025, law enforcement officers detained the Commander of the Military Recruitment Centre in Chernivtsi region and his subordinate for a bribe of $6000. The officers promised a resident ‘rear’ military service through forged documents. According to the prosecutor’s office, the suspects changed the man’s fitness category so that he would not be called up to the front.

Case 3. Corruption in the courts

Thirdly, there is an explosion of corruption among judges, some of whom regularly issued court decisions on the adoption of children by men or established other false facts that allowed men to leave Ukraine unhindered with a seemingly legitimate court decision in their hands.

The most telling case in Ukraine is the criminal case against several judges of the Bilhorod-Dnistrovsky City District Court of Odesa Region and several local barristers who organised a conveyor belt for producing court decisions allowing men to leave Ukraine.

According to the investigation, the aforementioned individuals committed crimes, including obstructing the lawful activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations, as well as illegally transporting individuals across the state border of Ukraine by ensuring the adoption of court decisions.

During 2022-2023, the suspects issued over a thousand illegal court decisions in the aforementioned court, which provided grounds for men of conscription age to cross the border. In order for conscripts to avoid mobilisation and subsequently leave the country, the court issued decisions establishing the place of residence of the child with the father. Information about the provision of such services was published in relevant social media groups.

The cost of one decision was between 1500 and 3000 US dollars.

At the end of August 2025, the High Anti-Corruption Court approved an agreement with the judge of the Bilhorod-Dnistrovsky City District Court of Odesa Region. He was sentenced to six years in prison with a three-year ban on holding certain positions and confiscation of 20000 USD and 200000 UAH. At the same time, he was released from punishment for a three-year probationary period. The former judge also undertook to transfer 1,06 million UAH of bail to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Thanks to the judge, two other figures in the case were exposed – the head of the same court and another judge of the same court, as well as other participants, in particular, a lawyer (according to the investigation, he was the one who sought clients)[5].

Case 4. Corruption concerned with remuneration for participation in combat operations

Another example of criminal activity caused exclusively by the War is the payment of sums of money for direct participation in combat operations.

On the one hand, a huge number of Ukrainian men and women are on the front line. By law, each day spent directly on the front line must be paid for additionally.

On the other hand, some military commanders abuse their authority in this regard, recording ‘combat’ days for individual soldiers and officers while they were in the rear in exchange for a portion of these ‘combat’ payments.

Accordingly, law enforcement agencies respond to such crimes from time to time.

Thus, in early August 2025, the Prosecutor General announced the exposure of a scheme to pay ‘combat’ allowances to those who were not actually at the front. It was found that over 15 million UAH in additional remuneration were unjustifiably paid for participation in combat operations, even though they were not at the front line.

According to the Prosecutor General, the state has lost of over 34 million UAH.

The Prosecutor General gave the following examples:

– The Bila Tserkva Specialised Prosecutor’s Office for Military Defence: a former commander of a military unit failed to ensure control over the legality of payments. Subordinates were unjustifiably charged well over 15 million UAH in additional remuneration for participation in combat operations, although they were not on the front line.

– The Lviv Specialised Prosecutor’s Office for Military Defence: an organised group consisting of an official from the financial and economic department of a military unit, officers, and sergeants was exposed. They unjustifiably charged themselves payments of over 5 million UAH[6].

On August 12, officers of the State Bureau of Investigations have given the notes of suspicion to the commander of one of the military units in the Chernihiv region and three of his subordinate officers. According to the investigation, they earned money from illegally registering payments to soldiers who allegedly worked in a fictitious headquarters.

According to the investigation, in 2024, the commander created a separate command post ‘on paper’, where 14 military personnel were allegedly on duty. In reality, they did not perform any duties – they spent almost a year at their own discretion but received additional monetary compensation in the amount of 2000 UAH for each ‘shift.’ After receiving the funds, the soldiers transferred part of the money to the commander and his accomplices. Five of these soldiers performed personal work for the unit commander: they repaired his private estate, built a guest house on the same plot of land, and furnished an apartment belonging to his son. In addition, the commander helped another soldier evade military service, who earned money repairing cars near the unit during working hours. The rest of the soldiers simply spent their time in the army as they saw fit. According to the State Bureau of Investigation, the state suffered losses of over 2 million UAH as a result of this illegal scheme[7].

[1] Ukrinform (2023). Corruption at the border has become the main source of illegal enrichment – the Head of Ukraine’s National Agency for Corruption Prevention. Ukrinform. July 19, 2023. Source: www.ukrinform.ua/rubric-economy/3737888-korupcia-na-kordoni-stala-osnovnim-dzerelom-nezakonnogo-zbagacenna-golova-nazk.html

[2] Smyshyaev, S. (2025). State Border Service of Ukraine: 49000 men were unable to leave the country illegally. Deutsche Welle. May 21, 2025. Source: www.dw.com/uk/dpsu-49-tisacam-colovikiv-zavadili-nezakonno-zalisiti-ukrainu/a-72627412

[3] Saakov, V. (2024). Corruption in the MSEC: 4000 disability certificates revoked. Deutsche Welle. October 22, 2024. Source: www.dw.com/uk/korupcia-u-msek-skasovano-ponad-4-tisaci-visnovkiv-pro-invalidnist/a-70570578

[4] Romanenko, V. (2025). Former head of the Central Medical and Social Examination Commission and his subordinates exposed in a fictitious disability scheme. Ukrainska Pravda. August 19, 2025. Source: www.pravda.com.ua/news/2025/08/19/7526921

[5] South Today (2025). The judge of the Bilhorod-Dnistrovsky court, who deprived more than 350 women of their parental rights, agreed to a settlement: what sentence was imposed. South Today. August 26, 2025. Source: https://yug.today/suddia-bilhorod-dnistrovskoho-sudu-iakyy-pozbavyv-materynskykh-prav-bilshe-350-zhinok-pishov-na-uhodu-iakyy-vyrok-pryznachyly/

[6] Mamchenko, M. (2025). Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko announced the exposure of 25 million hryvnia in illegal payments to ‘combatants’ who were not at the front. Judicial and Legal Newspaper. August 8, 2025. Source: https://sud.ua/uk/news/publication/338007-genprokuror-ruslan-kravchenko-zayavil-o-razoblachenii-25-mln-grn-nezakonnykh-vyplat-boevykh-tem-kto-ne-byl-na-fronte

[7] Romanenko, V. (2025). State Bureau of Investigations: Military unit commander created a ‘command post on paper’ to earn money from payments. Ukrainska Pravda. August 14, 2025. Source: www.pravda.com.ua/news/2025/08/14/7526096