The head of the Hmelnytskyi County Medical Center in western Ukraine, Tetyana Krupa, is currently under investigation by the country's Bureau of Investigation after her family was found to have nearly $6 million in cash that was allegedly obtained by providing medical exemptions to Ukrainian men who wanted to avoid being conscripted.
Krupa was responsible for conducting medical examinations, and forged medical documents were found in her office along with lists of people who were avoiding mobilization with false diagnoses. All of the male members of Krupa’s own family were also listed as being disabled in official exemptions that were issued by Krupa and therefore did not have to fight to defend their country.
A search of the Krupa family’s home on October 4 found multiple currencies that totaled $6 million, including more than $5 million, €300,000, and 5 million hryvnias, along with jewelry and other valuables. Krupa reportedly tried to throw bags of money out of the window totaling half a million dollars during the arrest. Her son, who is the head of the regional Pension Fund, is also being charged with illegal enrichment.
Krupa also owns dozens of properties in Kiev, Lviv and other locations such as Spain, Austria and Turkey; $2.3 million in foreign accounts; a hotel and restaurant complex; and nine luxury vehicles.
Helping people avoid fighting in the war is big business in Ukraine. Last month, the Security Service of Ukraine detained the heads of military enlistment offices in Boryspil and Bucha on suspicion of helping men evade the draft; they reportedly earned more than $1.2 million in their scheme, which involved forging documents claiming men were unfit to serve for health reasons. They reportedly raked in as much as $37,000 per person.
The news comes at a time when Ukraine is growing increasingly desperate to give its troop numbers a boost.
Ukrainian men taking extreme action to avoid fighting in the war
Thousands of Ukrainian men have crossed the border illegally since the beginning of the war in order to dodge conscription, even though there's currently a ban in effect that prohibits all Ukrainian men aged 18 to 60 from leaving the country.
New mobilization laws that were introduced earlier this year allowing the military to call up even more soldiers and toughening the penalties for avoiding the draft have only made the problem worse. For example, the mobilization age was recently reduced from 27 to 25, while penalties for draft evaders include the loss of their driver’s license as well as the potential for their property to be seized and their bank accounts frozen.
Handlers have been helping people escape the country for hefty sums. While some are avoiding conscription because they are scared of the horrific death rate Ukraine has recorded thus far, others say that the training being offered to soldiers before they are sent to the front lines is inadequate. Some people have complex family situations that mean their absence would cause undue hardship on their families.
At least 20,000 men have fled the country to avoid doing military service, with multiple reports of young men trying to swim across Ukraine’s border into Romania and drowning. Dozens of bodies have been recovered, and authorities believe there are many more that will never be recovered.
Ukraine continues to suffer from a shortage of military manpower. Although hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians volunteered to serve at the front lines in the early days of the war, many of these soldiers are now wounded or dead. In fact, the country is losing so many young men that there are now concerns about the country’s future birth rate.
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