The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the National Police have detained former People's Deputy Vadym Podberiznyak, who, according to law enforcement, organized a corrupt scheme to issue fake disability status to persons subject to military service. For $10,000, an intermediary helped "draft evaders" obtain documents that provided a legal basis for exemption from mobilization. This was reported by RBC-Ukraine sources in law enforcement agencies.
How the corrupt scheme worked
To carry out the criminal activity, the former politician used his personal connections in medical institutions in the Mykolaiv region. The process of issuing documents took place in several stages: from the initial contact with the client to the delivery of a ready-made package of documents confirming the presence of a disability. According to the investigation, the cost of one "package" was $10,000. Law enforcement officers documented the criminal activity and detained Podberiznyak together with the intermediary at the moment of receiving the second tranche of funds for an already processed package of documents.
Criminal Code articles and punishment
Both suspects — the former People's Deputy and the intermediary — were notified of suspicion under Part 2 of Article 28 and Part 3 of Article 369-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. This qualification provides for liability for abuse of influence committed by a group of persons by prior conspiracy. The maximum punishment under this article is up to eight years of imprisonment with confiscation of property. Currently, the investigative bodies are continuing their work to hold all involved medical workers criminally liable who directly processed the fake medical opinions.
Context: similar schemes in other regions
Podberiznyak's detention is not an isolated case. Recently, in Kharkiv, law enforcement officers exposed a similar scheme of issuing fake disability status to persons subject to military service: for several thousand dollars, "clients" were helped to obtain documents that granted the right to exemption from mobilization. Experts note that such corrupt practices have become a systemic problem against the backdrop of mobilization processes and pose a serious risk of undermining trust in the institution of military medical examination.
Contradictory data
The headline of the RBC-Ukraine publication states that the detention was carried out exclusively by the SBU, whereas the text of the article and the initial law enforcement summary refer to joint actions by the Security Service of Ukraine and the National Police. The difference in wording may be due to the fact that the operational support and the detention were carried out by SBU officers, while the procedural actions of notifying suspicion and further proceedings were handled by National Police investigators. The exact division of roles between the agencies has not been disclosed in open sources.
