Hundreds of illegal border-crossing schemes have been uncovered in Ukraine’s Zakarpattia region, according to the Office of the Prosecutor General.
Investigators reported that over the past nine months of 2025, more than 270 organizers and accomplices of schemes helping men flee abroad have been identified. A total of 174 indictments have been sent to court, and 395 individuals were detained while attempting to illegally cross the border. The total amount of illicit profit sought by the organizers exceeds 1.6 million US dollars.
Courts in the region have already delivered 18 verdicts against 20 people involved in organizing illegal departures of men of conscription age, while many other cases remain under consideration.
Among the latest verdicts is that of the Berehove District Court against a 23-year-old resident of Hrushovo village, Tyachiv district. Together with an accomplice, he attempted to smuggle two men into Hungary for a fee of between 3,500 and 5,000 US dollars. The man, who had a prior criminal record, was detained by border guards near the village of Velyka Bakta and sentenced to six years in prison.
Another man from the Berehove district was sentenced to five years in prison. The 26-year-old, who had an unexpunged conviction for theft, organized an attempt to smuggle two citizens from the Kirovohrad and Zaporizhzhia regions. He was detained near the border, and the court additionally banned him from holding public office.
A 33-year-old woman from Kostylivka village in the Rakhiv district was also convicted. Together with accomplices, she organized an attempt to smuggle four Afghan citizens into Hungary. She rented vehicles, coordinated transportation, and accompanied the cars almost to the border. The court sentenced her to five years in prison with an additional restriction on holding certain positions.
In the Uzhhorod district, three people have been sentenced to real prison terms for illegally transporting conscription-age men across the state border. A resident of Chop was sentenced to seven years in prison for attempting to smuggle a man into Slovakia for 6,500 US dollars. Two other individuals received the same prison term for organizing similar schemes to Hungary and Slovakia.
The Office of the Prosecutor General emphasized that prosecutors consistently respond to every case of illegal border crossing and ensure such cases are brought to conviction.