A military commissar is under suspicion for soliciting bribes so that men can avoid military service in the mobilization under way.
Military
prosecutors and the regional Security Service of Ukraine detained the commissar
and an accomplice, but did not identify them publicly.
The
commissar allegedly received $3,700 between April and June to exempt conscripts
from the draft, Pavlo Aksyonov, a spokesman for the Military Prosecutor’s
Office of the southern region told the Kyiv Post on June 4.
Authorities said they discovered two military service cards and a
military exemption stamp in the commissar’s car, he added.
If convicted, the commissar faces up to 10 years in prison.
There are several similar cases.
Since
January, the Military Prosecutor’s Office in the western region has detained
four commissars. Two of them are already under trial. In the central region,
two commissars face the same charges.
Mykola
Gutsulyak, a speaker for the military prosecutor in the western region, said
that the commissars are motivated by money and hope to evade responsibility by
acting through intermediaries. Gutsulyak said a commissar in the region
obtained Hr 5,000 ($237) for discharging a Lviv citizen from military service.
Other
crimes are taking place related to Russia’s war against Ukraine.
On March
19, the southern regional military prosecutor arrested a Security Service of
Ukraine colonel for illegally granting passes to the war zone. Authorities
confiscated $5,700, espresso.tv reported on March 23.
Kyiv Post legal affairs reporter Mariana
Antonovych can be reached at [email protected]
