Divorces "on paper" and complicit judges: scheme for discharge from service and obtaining deferments exposed

The judge in question decided the fate of mobilization: fictitious families were used to cover up evasion of service

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24 Jul 2026

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Two judges of the Konotop City District Court of the Sumy Oblast, two lawyers and a reservist were notified of suspicion in a case about the use of fictitious court decisions to obtain discharge from military service and postponements from mobilization. This was 23 July 2026 reported by the Office of the Prosecutor General. In total, the proceedings involve 5 suspects, and one of the lawyers at the time of the described events was serving in the military.

According to the investigation, the scheme participants submitted to the court applications with false information about the actual termination of family relations, the sole upbringing of minor children, or the unexplained absence of one of the parents. The obtained decisions were then used as legal grounds to discharge servicemen to the reserve or for reservists to obtain postponements from mobilization.

Cases were intended to go not to random judges but to preselected ones. To achieve this, applicants, according to law enforcement, repeatedly submitted and withdrew the same documents. When the automated allocation system distributed the materials to another judge, the application was withdrawn and then resubmitted until it landed with the desired composition of the court. Investigators have so far established 4 such episodes.

One episode concerns the son of a judge who previously headed the Konotop City District Court. The man worked as a lawyer while simultaneously serving in the military. According to the investigation, in 2023 his mother agreed with another judge of the same court to create fictitious family circumstances that would allow the serviceman to be discharged from service.

Initially a divorce was formalized and the child’s place of residence was determined to be with the father. Later the court established the fact that he was sole raising the child without the mother’s participation. At the same time, investigators assert that the man in fact continued to live with his wife and child, and the marital relations between the spouses had not ceased.

On the basis of the obtained court decisions, the serviceman was discharged to the reserve. After that he obtained a postponement from mobilization, which he subsequently renewed. Law enforcement believes that the court documents contained false information and were created specifically to enable the man to evade performing his military service duties. Another episode, according to investigators, was organized by a lawyer and one of the suspect judges. They allegedly helped reservists obtain court decisions recognizing sole upbringing of children, which were then submitted to territorial recruitment and social support centers to arrange postponements.

The same mechanism was used by the lawyer for his own interests. After repeatedly submitting and withdrawing an application in July 2024, a judge ruled that he was solely raising a minor child without the mother’s participation. Already in August 2024 the corresponding decision was submitted to the district Territorial Center for Recruitment and Social Support for obtaining a postponement from mobilization. Another established episode concerns a reservist who secured recognition of his ex-wife as missing. In the materials, investigators claim there was information that the woman had not been searched for as a missing person.

Despite this, in November 2024 a judge granted the application to recognize the woman as missing. In February 2025 that decision was used to arrange a postponement from mobilization for the reservist. All involved are charged with obstructing the lawful activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine during a special period, committed by prior conspiracy of a group of persons, under ch. 2 art. 28 and ch. 1 art. 114-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

The military-lawyer was additionally notified of suspicion for evading military service duties by deception under martial law under ch. 4 art. 409 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Two judges were charged with complicity in committing this crime under ch. 5 art. 27 and ch. 4 art. 409 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The suspicion previously announced to one of the judges was amended and a new one was notified. Law enforcement is currently considering the issue of selecting preventive measures for the suspects. The pre-trial investigation is ongoing.

According to art. 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, all suspects are presumed innocent until their guilt is proven by a final and legally binding guilty verdict of a court.