Slidstvo.Info’s investigation has revealed that since the start of the full-scale invasion, courts have sentenced 57 administrators and members of Telegram and Viber groups who reported on TCC personnel locations. Law enforcement authorities contend that these individuals helped draft-eligible men avoid receiving mobilization notices. Seven of these cases were concluded in October 2024. All defendants received suspended sentences, with none serving prison time.
Slidstvo.Info journalists analysed court records from the state registry and found that between the start of the full-scale invasion and late October 2024, 57 Ukrainians were convicted for posting TCC locations in Viber and Telegram chats on where summonses were being issued.
Some of the defendants are administrators of such chats or channels, and one of them warned about the TCC in a personal correspondence with an acquaintance.
Two more defendants were put on trial because they posted videos on the TikTok social media platform, which showed checkpoints with the TCC military. A man who posted a video about the TCC at Nyvky in Kyiv on YouTube in the winter of 2024 was also sentenced.
‘Don’t get caught, friends. Be careful,’ the convict warns in Russian.
GROUP ADMINS FACE CHARGES NOT ONLY FOR SHARING RESTRICTED INFORMATION, BUT ALSO FOR FAILING TO DELETE OTHERS’ MESSAGES
Slidstvo.Info journalists analysed in more detail 7 sentences passed in different regions of Ukraine in October 2024. For example, Vitalii S. from Haivoron, Kirovohrad oblast, has been administering one of the local Telegram channels since May 2024. In this channel, people reported where and when TCC employees were working in Haivoron and nearby settlements. Such information was disguised as messages about the weather.
The prosecution decided that Vitalii, as the administrator of the channel, had the opportunity to prohibit messages that interfere with the TCC, as well as to remove people who did so from the channel. However, Vitalii did not do so, which allowed men of mobilisation age to avoid receiving draft notices in certain places.
In October 2024, Mykola A., the owner of the Viber community ‘Summonses Sniatyn Kosiv district’, also received a court sentence. The man posted 15 messages indicating the places where TCC employees worked. In the group settings, Mykola hid the mobile numbers of all its members, which, according to the investigation, indicates that the defendant was aware of the illegality of his actions and did not want to be exposed. At the same time, Mykola himself was not in danger of mobilisation – according to the case file, he is a full-time student.
Any of the participants could leave messages about the places of service of summonses in the Viber group, and the defendant (as an administrator) did not delete them or prohibit the dissemination of such information.
At the same time, not only administrators of such communities can be prosecuted, but also their members. For example, a resident of Nizhyn, Chernihiv region, Hryhorii A., who sent at least 5 voice messages to one of the local Viber groups (with about 5,000 members) about the location of TCC representatives, was caught by law enforcement.
WHAT PENALTIES DO GROUP ADMINS FACE FOR HELPING PEOPLE EVADE DRAFT NOTICES
The individuals who write online about the movements of military TCCs or indicate the places where they work are tried under Article 114-1, part 1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, ‘Obstruction of the lawful activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations’. According to the law, violation of this article is punishable by imprisonment for a term of five to eight years.
However, no one among those tried in October received an actual sentence. Courts in different regions of Ukraine (whose verdicts were analysed by Slidstvo.Info journalists), based on Article 75 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, released the defendants from serving their sentences with probation and set them probationary periods. This means that the defendants will not be imprisoned if they do not commit a new crime and perform certain duties during this period (which can be from 1 to 3 years). One of those sentenced in October was ordered to pay a fine of UAH 170,000. All of the defendants who were sentenced in October pleaded guilty and repented.
The press service of the Security Service of Ukraine occasionally reports on the detention of people who may be involved in the dissemination of information about the TCC. For example, on 30 October, it was reported that six more people from Prykarpattia, Dnipro and Lviv regions were served with suspicion notices.
