SBI interrupted attempts by evaders to escape to Romania: law enforcement officer from Bukovina under suspicion

The State Bureau of Investigation detained a law enforcement officer from Bukovina and his accomplice, who organized an illegal channel for men of draft age to leave for Europe. During a special operation, another attempt to smuggle a group of draft evaders was stopped.

According to the investigation, two residents of Bukovina — a local police officer and his acquaintance — developed a scheme to cross the Ukrainian-Romanian border illegally in September 2025.

The organizer, who is not a law enforcement officer, was looking for clients who wanted to avoid mobilization and leave Ukraine via roundabout routes. He was assisted in this by a police officer who knew the area near the border and the location of border guards well.

According to the scheme, the “clients” were taken to a gas station in the Chernivtsi region. Then some of the men got into the police officer’s car, while the others followed. From the gas station, the group headed to the border area, where a police officer was supposed to lead the applicants through forest trails to the border, which is 2-3 kilometers away.

To ensure passage across the border, the “guides” even provided the evaders with pliers. The cost of such “services” ranged from 3 to 10 thousand euros per man.

However, their plans were thwarted: border guards stopped the attempt to cross the border illegally and detained three people who were trying to leave the country by an unacceptable route. All of them received administrative fines and military summonses.

The law enforcement officer and his accomplice were detained and are suspected of organizing the illegal smuggling of people across the border, committed by a group in a preliminary conspiracy with mercenary intentions. According to Ukrainian law, they face up to 9 years in prison, deprivation of the right to hold certain positions for up to 3 years, and confiscation of property. The investigation is being conducted by the Chernivtsi Specialized Prosecutor’s Office in the Field of Defense of the Western Region.