Corruption & Investigations
$1,500 and $5,000 for a “student” status: two cases expose a persistent weakness in Ukraine’s mobilization deferment system
Two criminal cases reported on September 7, 2026 — a $1,500 fake-enrollment offer in Kyiv and a $5,000 customs scheme in Ternopil region — highlight how student status can be exploited to obtain mobilization deferments, and why the state’s digital registration system cannot by itself verify the honesty of the data it receives.