"'PhD program' done in style: in Zaporizhzhia a university sold deferments worth more than UAH 50 million"

An indictment has been sent to court against 9 members of a criminal organization who, according to investigators, organized a large-scale scheme of fictitious enrollment of those liable for military service into postgraduate programs. The aim was simple and cynical: to give men of conscription age formal grounds for postponement from mobilization. The case was reported by Attorney General Ruslan Kravchenko.

Investigators believe the organizer of the scheme was the rector and owner of a private university in Zaporizhzhia. According to law enforcement, he involved his daughter, who worked as vice-rector for academic and scientific work, another 3 vice-rectors, the deputy director of one of the institutes, the head of the information systems center, and staff of the postgraduate department.

The fictitious “studies” were arranged through forged documents, the entry of false data, and illegal interference with the state database EDEBO. Admission documents, investigators say, were created retroactively, and the “postgraduates” did not actually attend classes.

Over 2 years, almost 3,500 men of conscription age were illegally registered through this scheme. About 3,000 of them obtained grounds for postponement from mobilization.

Investigators separately note the scale of the excess over the licensed capacity. The institution was allowed to accept no more than 265 postgraduates, but in practice, according to law enforcement, that limit was exceeded by 13 times.

The cost of the “services” consisted of two parts. The first — the official tuition payment, almost 20,000 hryvnias for 2 semesters. The second — a separate illicit payment, which could range from several hundred to more than 260,000 hryvnias per person.

Overall, according to investigators, the scheme brought its organizers more than 50 million hryvnias.

The scheme was uncovered after the holder of EDEBO noticed a suspicious mass registration of entrants and contacted law enforcement. After that, the Ministry of Education and Science (MES) annulled the university’s license to train postgraduates.

All the defendants are charged with participation in a criminal organization, bribery, document fraud, interference with IT systems, and obstructing the lawful activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The scheme’s organizer is additionally charged with creating a criminal organization and legalizing illegally obtained funds.

This story looks especially painful against the backdrop of the war, when thousands of Ukrainians serve in the military and their families live in constant anxiety. Education should not be a cover for trading postponements, and the status of a postgraduate should not be a paid way to avoid one’s duty to the state.

Previously we wrote:

• The head of the TCC was detained for a bribe: “exemption” for employees became a scheme during the war
• Sending those with exemptions to the front, nullifying all certificates: what could change in mobilization
• Helped evade mobilization: in Mykolaiv the SBU came to the administrator of a Telegram channel
• 500 dollars to be “removed from the wanted list”: in Mykolaiv the TCC “fabricated” draft dodgers in the database
• “Phone summons” without force, but with a fine: how this actually works