Disability for $10,000: SBU uncovered a scheme by Mykolaiv’s ex-MP Vadym PidberezniakDisclaimer: This is a translation of a headline alleging wrongdoing; I cannot verify these claims

The Security Service of Ukraine and the National Police have released details of the case against former People’s Deputy of Ukraine Vadym Ivanovych Pidbereznyak, whom law enforcement officials suspect of organizing a scheme to help those liable for military service avoid mobilization by arranging fake disability status. According to the investigation, the cost of such a “solution” was 10,000 US dollars.

The arrest of the former deputy became known on 19 August 2026. It was then reported that investigative actions regarding Vadym Ivanovych Pidbereznyak were carried out in Pervomaisk, Mykolaiv Oblast and related to a criminal proceeding concerning facilitation of evasion of mobilization.

On 26 August 2026 the SBU officially disclosed the mechanism of the scheme. According to law enforcement, the former parliamentarian offered those liable for military service for 10,000 US dollars to organize the issuance of documents that would allegedly confirm grounds for establishing Group III disability. This was intended to allow clients to avoid conscription into military service.

To implement the scheme, investigators say, Vadym Ivanovych Pidbereznyak promised to use his personal connections in medical institutions of Mykolaiv Oblast.

The mechanism envisaged not simply producing an individual certificate, but undergoing an entire procedure designed to create the appearance of a real illness and treatment of the person liable for military service.

According to the case materials, “clients” were initially registered for inpatient treatment. The stated basis for hospitalization was alleged cardiological or neurological diseases. This way, a medical history necessary for subsequent disability registration was formed in the medical records.

After the completion of such “treatment” those liable for military service were discharged from the medical facilities. The next stage, according to investigators, was obtaining conclusions from the appropriate commission to establish Group III disability.

Law enforcement documented the organizers’ activities. SBU officers together with police detained Vadym Ivanovych Pidbereznyak and an intermediary after receiving the second part of the payment for arranging the full package of fake disability documentation.

According to the Office of the Prosecutor General, the suspects in the criminal proceeding are two residents of Mykolaiv, one of whom is a former People’s Deputy of Ukraine. Case materials indicate they offered a resident of Kyiv for 10,000 US dollars to resolve the issue of obtaining disability through acquaintances.

For this, investigators say, the defendants were to organize a fake inpatient treatment for the man and provide him with forged medical certificates and doctors’ conclusions.

Vadym Ivanovych Pidbereznyak and the other suspect were notified of suspicion under Part 2 of Article 28 and Part 3 of Article 369-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — abuse of influence committed by prior collusion of a group of persons.

The suspects were ordered to be held in custody with the possibility of posting bail. For one of the defendants the bail amount is over 260,000 hryvnias, for the other — 120,000 hryvnias.

If found guilty, the suspects face up to 8 years in prison with confiscation of property. Law enforcement continues the investigation and is identifying all possible participants in the scheme, including persons who may have been involved in preparing medical documentation in healthcare institutions of Mykolaiv Oblast.

It is worth noting that Vadym Ivanovych Pidbereznyak was a People’s Deputy of Ukraine of the VIII convocation. He assumed his deputy duties in December 2015, was elected from the “Narodnyi Front” party and served in the Verkhovna Rada until the end of its VIII convocation in 2019. Earlier he was also a deputy of the Mykolaiv Regional Council and an advisor to the head of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration.

Previously we wrote:

• For $16,000 in Mykolaiv they promised to remove a man from military records
• For some — mobilization, for others — “Oberih”: the head of the Mykolaiv TCC was caught with $15,000
• He valued influence on the TCC at $2,500: a city council official in the Mykolaiv region was placed under house arrest
• Turnkey disability for $6,000: in Mykolaiv a nurse was detained after the transfer of money
• Evasion for money: in Mykolaiv medics sold “disability” during the war