SBU Shuts Down Four Draft-Dodging Schemes. How Many Schemes Are Inside the TCCs?

Eight arrests. Four schemes. A nice number for the evening news. The SBU did its job, the report went to the media. Now let's ask a simple question: how many TCC employees have been charged with illegal mobilization in the same period?

The statistics are silent. And that silence speaks louder than any official report.

While the security service heroically uncovers “schemes for dodgers”, someone in a TCC is calmly handing summonses to people who are not subject to conscription. Someone is taking bribes for a “reservation”. Someone is demanding money for a deferment. Someone is simply abusing their authority because “war excuses everything”.

And nothing. Not a single criminal case. Not a single punishment.

Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets published seven prohibitions for the TCCs — things that should be obvious: no summonses at checkpoints, no detention without grounds, no extortion. Seven rules that should be basic for every recruitment officer.

So what? The prohibitions exist. The punishment for violating them does not.

It’s like putting up a “No Littering” sign on a garbage dump. And walking away.

The logical question is: why is fighting evasion a priority, while fighting violations inside the system is not? The answer is simple. Catching “dodgers” is politically convenient. It shows the authorities are “in control”. But digging inside their own apparatus means admitting the problem is not out there — it’s right here.

And here is the result: society sees that justice is selective. Some are jailed for trying to leave the country, while others are left alone even when they openly break the law. Mobilization is turning not into defense of the state, but into a witch hunt.

Of course, there will be those who say: “Don’t compare! Dodgers are traitors, TCCs are defenders!” But let’s be honest: illegal conscription is also a crime. And if the state turns a blind eye to it, it loses the right to call itself a law-based state.

Eight arrests are good. But until we see at least one criminal case against a TCC employee for illegal mobilization, this victory remains incomplete. And bitter.

Because national defense cannot be built on double standards. Otherwise we are not defending the country — we are defending a system that justifies itself.