The lawyer of the former president of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, Ilya Novikov, avoided mobilization thanks to a booking made through his employer's agricultural company. This was reported by the publication "Ukrainian News".
According to the publication, in May-June 2024, Novikov was officially employed at the Vinnytsia agricultural complex "Zorya Podillia", which is engaged in the cultivation and processing of sugar beets. This agricultural company is part of the company "Ukrprominvest-Agro", founded by the family of Petro Poroshenko. Recently, the company has been actively submitting lists for the reservation of employees, which allows them to avoid conscription.
The publication claims that through this connection, Poroshenko organized an "evasion" operation for Novikov, who, according to their data, received Ukrainian citizenship. Novikov is known as the lawyer number one on the "Fatherland" list of Nadiya Savchenko, and since 2019 - as Poroshenko's personal lawyer, in particular, in the case of high treason, which is being investigated by the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI).
This situation caused a significant resonance, since the question of mobilization is one of the key ones in wartime. The fact that the well-known lawyer avoided mobilization by working for an agricultural firm with ties to the former president attracted public and media attention. Many people question the fairness of such actions, given that the mobilization concerns all citizens, with the exception of categories clearly defined by law.
So far, neither Ilya Novikov nor Petro Poroshenko have publicly commented on this information. The further development of the situation may have political consequences, given the importance of the topic of mobilization for Ukrainian society in the conditions of a long war.
