The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has uncovered a scheme to illegally smuggle Ukrainian citizens abroad. Among those detained in the case is the former head of the Brovary District Military Administration.
This was reported by the press service of SBU.
The special service does not specify the names of the suspects, but Babelʼs sources in law enforcement agencies confirmed that they are Volodymyr Maybozhenko. The second person involved in the case is the head of a charitable foundation.
According to the investigation, the suspects entered the data of those liable for military service into the "Shlyakh" information system as volunteers who allegedly import military ammunition, drones, products, etc. into Ukraine.
Instead, people who crossed the state border did not bring humanitarian aid to Ukraine or declared a small amount of it in order to avoid responsibility for unjustified departure.
The cost of such a “service” was up to $2 000 per client. According to SBU, the scheme operated for a year, with over 100 people using it.
Law enforcement officers detained both suspects at their places of residence in Kyiv and Buchansky district, and searched them. They were charged under two articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine:
- Part 1 of Article 114-1 (obstruction of the lawful activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations);
- Part 3 of Article 332 (illegal smuggling of persons across the state border of Ukraine).
The court has currently chosen a preventive measure in the form of detention for the defendants.
- Maybozhenko is also involved in a traffic accident case in Brovary — he was accused of drunkenly hitting four people at a pedestrian crossing. In January, he was fined 34 000 hryvnias and deprived of his driverʼs license for three years. The prosecutorʼs office disagreed with this decision and sought its annulment — the case was sent for retrial.
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