In Bukovina a border guard hid draft dodgers in the spare wheel niche

In Bukovina, law enforcement officers detained a State Border Guard Service member suspected of participating in a scheme to illegally transport persons liable for military service to Moldova. According to the State Bureau of Investigation, the cost of illegal departure from Chernivtsi was $5,500 per person.

The investigation believes that the channel had been operating since at least mid-February 2026, and the border guard joined it in March. Clients were sought through TikTok: men who had already left Ukraine talked about their experience and passed the contacts of other interested persons to the organizers. Further communication took place in Telegram under fictitious names.

The border guard, as claimed by the SBI, knew the locations and times of border patrol duty. He met the persons liable for military service in Chernivtsi and drove them to an area near the state border. To pass checkpoints, the passengers were hidden in a compartment of the vehicle intended for the spare wheel.

Law enforcement officers documented four cases of illegal crossing of men across the border. During the fifth trip, the border guard was detained. According to the prosecutor's office, before the detention the driver failed to comply with the order to stop and tried to flee, but after a pursuit the car was stopped not far from the Ukrainian-Moldovan border.

The serviceman was notified of suspicion under Part 2 of Art. 332 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — organizing illegal transportation of persons across the state border and facilitating it by prior conspiracy by a group of persons. The sanction of the article provides for up to seven years of imprisonment. The investigation is identifying other possible participants in the scheme.

Based on materials from: State Bureau of Investigation