Ukraine’s state border guard service said Thursday they have busted a smuggling scheme staged by a non-profit group leader who allegedly helped draft-age men to sneak out of the country using illegal border passes.

Men paid 20 thousand hryvnas to cross the border as reserve drivers for humanitarian supplies’ deliveries while the smuggler had entered their names into the state driver-hiring database.

Border guard service officials said the man was detained during his last trip at Shegini border crossing and is now facing charges that can land him in jail for at least 9 years.

Following the Russian aggression, Ukraine imposed the martial law banning  Ukrainians of conscription age  from leaving the country.

photo by Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service