Ukraine seizes $6 million in cash and jewelry from an official accused of aiding draft dodgers

Ukrainian investigators said Friday they found stacks of cash totaling nearly $6 million during a raid on the home of a state official suspected of helping men evade mobilization.

The raid was part of an investigation into an illegal plan to register potential conscientious objectors as disabled.

As Ukraine seeks new recruits for the war with Russia, some unwilling to fight are resorting to bribery to avoid being sent to the front.

The State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) stormed the home of an official of the regional medical commission in the western Khmelnitsky region and her son, a manager of Ukraine's state pension fund.

“During the searches, they found nearly $6 million in cash alone in various currencies,” the SBI said.

Designer jewelry was also found in the officers' house, it said.

Investigators said they found another “$100,000 as well as a number of forged medical documents, lists of 'conscientious objectors' with false names and fictitious diagnoses” at the woman's workplace.