“I'm looking for a wife, I'll give her to my sister”: sham marriages among Ukrainian conscripts are gaining momentum
According to the lawyer, it is very difficult to prove the fiction of marriage, but possible.
Following a series of news reports about supposedly increasing mobilization in Ukraine, so-called “marriage brokers” have emerged offering conscripts to meet and fictitiously marry women with disabilities.
According to the law, marrying a woman with a disability entitles men to travel abroad as companions.
Women with disabilities have been exploiting this situation for more than a year, offering their hand in exchange for a financial reward. As it now turns out, sham marriages are developing into a mini-industry - advertisements have appeared in specialized Internet communities, the authors of which state that they have "several wives" in order to conclude sham marriages.
According to statistics of such an Internet community, this group now has 2.5 thousand members in the social network.
As it turns out, these communities now include not only women with disabilities, but also single mothers. They also offer their services.
Women value their borderline illegal services at $3,000 to $6,500.
Among the advertisements there are also those whose authors offer their relatives as a reward. One of the members of the community wrote that he was looking for a willing person with whom he would be willing to exchange his sister. A woman with a disability asks for a reward for herself.
Lawyer Andrii Mezhirytskyi, who is familiar with the topic of mobilization, commented on the Internet offers of sham marriages in a comment for TSN.ua:
“The sham marriage can only be established beyond doubt by a court decision. In my opinion, it can be established in the event of a voluntary confession by one or both parties. In certain circumstances, this does not prove that the marriage was a sham. This is a category that is difficult to prove. But if one of the parties claims to be a fake, it can be considered a fake.
At the same time, the lawyer draws the attention of both parties to the fact that concluding a marriage entails all actual obligations and grants rights regarding the disposal of joint property.
When asked whether the sham marriage business will flourish, Andriy Mezhirytskyi answers unequivocally: “ Unfortunately, it will, although they are fighting against it .”