In Chernivtsi, a 42-year-old local woman has been sentenced to three years« imprisonment for defrauding five relatives of servicemen who went missing during the war. According to the public prosecutor’s office, the woman, posing as a volunteer, promised to evacuate their relatives from the »grey zone’ and embezzled over 75,000 hryvnias.
Briefly about the main points
- The court sentenced a woman from Chernivtsi to three years’ imprisonment.
- The victims were five female relatives of soldiers reported missing in action.
- A woman swindled more than 75,000 UAH under the pretext of an «evacuation».
- She used fake profiles and photos of soldiers to carry out the scam.
- Official missing person enquiries and information for families are free of charge.
How the scheme worked
Prosecutors proved that between November 2025 and January 2026, the woman created fake accounts on Facebook and messaging apps. She searched for posts by families who were looking for missing servicemen and contacted them posing as a volunteer.
She claimed that the soldier had been found alive, but that he was in a serious condition and needed to be evacuated urgently from the «grey zone». To build credibility, she used photographs of soldiers found on their relatives’ social media pages.
After the first payment, she demanded further transfers
The woman asked for money to be transferred to her to «organise the evacuation». Once she had received the money, she would invent further excuses – in particular, claiming that the amount was insufficient – and persuade her relatives to pay again.
The prosecution in the case was led by prosecutors from the Chernivtsi City District Prosecutor’s Office. The court found the woman guilty of Part 4 of Article 190 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
Where should families of missing persons turn?
The Ministry of Internal Affairs emphasises that the state does not charge a fee for searching for missing persons, prisoner exchange or the provision of official information. Demanding payment for such services or for a supposedly guaranteed evacuation is a sign of a fraudulent scheme.
The Ministry advises people not to disclose personal data to third parties, not to pay for «assistance», to keep a record of any suspicious correspondence and to pass it on to the police. A unified information platform run by the Ministry of Internal Affairs is available to families, and the hotline for the Commissioner for Persons Missing under Special Circumstances is 1698.
