In Volyn region, a carrier entrepreneur was convicted for illegally taking eight men abroad

In Volyn region, a carrier entrepreneur was convicted for illegally taking eight men abroad

On March 19, 2026, the Lokachyn District Court of Volyn region in case No. 931/989/25 issued a verdict to local entrepreneur Oleksiy Novosad, who used his access to the information system «Shlyakh» to help military-liable men illegally leave Ukraine.

Scheme with «employment»

As the court established, in March and April 2023, the accused, being a sole proprietor with a license for international freight transportation, developed a corrupt mechanism. He fictitiously «hired» as drivers men who actually had no relation to his business activities.

Using his own electronic key, the entrepreneur entered false data about these «employees» into the «Shlyakh» system. This gave them legal grounds to cross the state border in Renault Master and Opel Movano vehicles through the «Uhriniv» checkpoint. In total, the case involves eight men who used Novosad’s services and did not return to Ukraine.

Position of the accused and veteran status

In court, Oleksiy Novosad fully admitted his guilt and repented. It should be noted that the accused is an active serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He participated in combat operations against Russian aggression from March to December 2022, has the status of a combat veteran, and was wounded while defending the Motherland. He also has two minor children in his care.

Court verdict

This is not the entrepreneur’s first conviction for similar activities. In August 2025, he was already sentenced under the article on illegal trafficking of persons across the border (Art. 332 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). Since the new episodes of the crime (manipulations in the «Shlyakh» system) were committed before the previous verdict was issued, the court imposed punishment for the aggregate of crimes.

Court decision:

- Oleksiy Novosad was found guilty under Part 3 of Art. 362 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (unauthorized change of information in automated systems).

- Final punishment imposed — 4 years and 8 months of imprisonment.

- Additional punishment established — prohibition from engaging in international freight transportation for 2 years.

- At the same time, the court released the convict from serving the main term in reality, setting a probationary period of 3 years.

The entrepreneur-serviceman will remain at liberty under the supervision of probation authorities if he does not commit a new offense during the probationary period.