How Ukrainians are evading military service with forged medical documents

On October 22, Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin resigned for failing to prevent a scam in which thousands of Ukrainians, including prosecutors, obtained fake disability status to avoid military conscription and potentially sent to the frontlines to fight the Russian army.

Besides evading military service, in Ukraine, obtaining disability status through medical examination commissions allows for receiving a higher pension, among other social benefits.

Although there were no public allegations directly implicating Kostin in the corruption, the scandal is ‘likely to deepen that distrust and complicate the army’s task to draft more people’, according to the New York Times.

On the same day, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy issued a decree to dismantle the medical examination commissions responsible for determining disability status by the end of the year to restore credibility to the system.

Vasyl Malyuk, head of Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU), revealed that around 4,000 fraudulent disability certificates were revoked following an audit. Additionally, 64 state medical commissioners have been issued “notes of suspicion,” an initial stage of criminal proceedings in Ukraine, according to Politico.

The scandal strikes at a sensitive moment for Ukraine, where corruption has long eroded public confidence, especially in the military draft process. Following Kostin’s resignation, public outrage quickly spread across social media.

One Ukrainian user shared his frustration, recounting how his father, who had legitimate grounds for receiving disability due to poor eyesight, was denied a certificate because he refused to pay a bribe. “Everyone laughed it off, saying there wouldn’t be enough disability benefits for the prosecutors,” the user said on X.

“Some absurd billions (in loans) are being spent on maintaining a huge pack of prosecutors with disabilities, embezzling officials, sabotaging judges, degenerate deputies, and other harmful “pseudo-elite”. How can this suicidal process for the country be stopped? The question is rhetorical,” another user posted.

Under martial law, Ukrainian men aged 18 to 60 are required to remain in the country and report to recruitment offices for possible military service.

Exemptions are few, including university enrollment, disability, or having three or more children.

For over a year, Ukrainian authorities have been struggling to bolster military ranks, aiming to recruit up to half a million soldiers to compensate for battlefield losses in the ongoing conflict with Russia.

In April, the conscription age was lowered from 27 to 25 to widen the pool of eligible draftees.