A scandal erupted in Poltava surrounding a lecturer at a private higher education institution who organized a scheme to evade military service for men. The professor provided his clients with fake education certificates and medical documents.
As stated in the ruling of the Poltava District Court dated January 21, 2025, the man used two main methods to help evade the draft.
The first involved fictitious enrollment of conscripts for full-time undergraduate, graduate, or postgraduate studies at a local university. Thanks to his connections, the professor offered clients admission without exams or provided forged certificates of enrollment at the educational institution.
The second method involved forging medical documents. The teacher helped conscripts obtain fake diagnoses of unfitness for service, including mental illnesses, which resulted in their exclusion from military service.
During the searches, law enforcement officers seized significant amounts of money from the suspect — over 118,000 US dollars and almost 170,000 hryvnias, seals of various institutions, forged documents, and mobile phones used in the scheme.
According to the Poltava region police, the teacher did not act alone: the criminal group included other individuals who helped implement the scheme.
The professor is currently charged under Part 2 of Article 369-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which provides for a penalty of imprisonment for a term of up to 5 years.
