As Ukraine’s war drags into its fifth year, mobilisation has evolved beyond a state obligation into a vast, multi-million-euro ecosystem in which access to freedom, legal status and even exemption from service can be bought. What was designed as a system of national defence increasingly resembles a marketplace shaped by demand, fear and opportunity, Ukrainian media source EPravda reports.
Hidden wealth in plain sight
Gold, dollars, euros, jewellery. Not the assets of a jeweller, but of a serviceman from the Bucha district Territorial Recruitment Centre. In 2025, Oleh Kolomiiets declared gold bullion worth UAH 7.7 million alongside $43,500 and cash in euros, despite an official annual income of just UAH 366,000.
While the declaration offers no explanation for the origin of these assets, it highlights a broader pattern: within a system that controls deferments, fitness for service and freedom of movement, unexplained wealth appears with striking regularity.
A war that didn’t erase corruption
After four years of the military conflict, corruption in mobilisation has not disappeared. For that matter, it has adapted to new realities. Despite repeated efforts by law enforcement, a parallel system has taken shape at the intersection of recruitment centres, medical commissions, registries and administrative procedures. Within this environment, an entire market has emerged, selling time, status, documents and, ultimately, the opportunity to avoid conscription.
This ecosystem extends far beyond individual officials. Public cases suggest the existence of networks involving recruitment officers, medical professionals, registry insiders and intermediaries who assemble these elements into comprehensive “packages.” For clients, the process resembles a structured service, offering a pathway from being registered for military service to becoming officially “unfit” or “reserved.”
Ukraine’s mobilisation pool remains vast, with estimates in 2024 suggesting around 4.4 million potential recruits. Men aged 25 and above form the core demand driving this underground economy.
Pricing avoidance: From hundreds to tens of thousands
The cost of navigating or bypassing mobilisation varies significantly depending on the stage. At the lower end, minor interventions in records, such as removal from a wanted list or quiet data updates, can cost relatively modest sums. As an individual moves closer to actual mobilisation, prices rise sharply.
Avoiding a summons or securing a deferment may cost several thousand dollars, while full-service packages that include falsified medical documentation, registry changes and permission to leave the country can reach tens of thousands. Investigations indicate a consistent trend: the closer a person is to being mobilised, the more expensive it becomes to avoid it.
The medical gateway
The most lucrative segment appears to lie within the medical system. Cases have emerged of officials allegedly selling decisions declaring individuals unfit for service for substantial sums. In one high-profile investigation, a regional medical commission head was accused of facilitating dozens of such arrangements worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Medical documentation has effectively become a commodity, capable of determining whether a person serves or not.
Official figures suggest a decline in the number of investigations, from 207 cases in 2023 to 164 in 2025. However, this does not necessarily indicate that the market is shrinking. Rather, it reflects a continued and persistent demand for ways to navigate or circumvent mobilisation, even as enforcement efforts intensify.
The intermediary economy
Journalistic inquiries have uncovered intermediaries operating openly via messaging platforms, offering detailed solutions. These range from organising illegal exits from the country to arranging what is described as “lifetime removal” from military registration.
Some schemes involve elaborate narratives, including staged medical evacuations using ambulances with foreign registration and hospital transfers abroad. Others promise complete documentation packages, including diagnoses, medical records, commission approvals and registry updates. Payments are often requested in cryptocurrency, typically split between an upfront deposit and a final instalment.
Between service and scam
The tone of these interactions is notably transactional, resembling the purchase of a premium service rather than an attempt to evade mobilisation. Phrases such as “lifetime exemption,” “full immunity” and “no further checks” are presented with confidence, raising questions about their credibility. In many cases, such offers may amount to fraud, selling the illusion of influence rather than guaranteed outcomes. Some networks may even have connections beyond Ukraine.
Estimates of the scale of this shadow economy vary widely, ranging from €800 million to €2.1 billion annually, though the methodologies behind these figures remain unclear. Simple comparisons reveal inconsistencies, suggesting that the higher estimates would require implausibly large numbers of individuals to exit the system each year. Nevertheless, the existence of the market itself is not in doubt.
The cost to society
The deeper issue extends beyond corruption to its broader societal consequences. As long as the state maintains a monopoly on coercion while losing its monopoly on fairness, a parallel system will continue to thrive.
Within this system, equality is replaced by purchasing power: one individual searches for an intermediary and a cryptocurrency wallet, while another reports for service. The longer this imbalance persists, the more difficult it becomes for the state to persuade society that mobilisation is a shared obligation rather than an uneven burden, from which those with sufficient means can find an exit.
As the military conflict drags on, mobilisation in Ukraine increasingly extends beyond a matter of state duty and more closely resembles a marketplace where every decision carries a price. Amid fear, pressure, and uncertainty, a parallel reality has emerged: some seek ways to pay for deferments or exemptions, while others are sent to serve. Shadow intermediaries, informal payments, and “package” solutions have turned the system into a mechanism where money often speaks louder than the law.
