The cost of illegally leaving Ukraine through Moldova starts at $5,000, but paying the fee does not guarantee a successful border crossing, captured Ukrainian serviceman Alexander Borshchuk said.

According to Borshchuk, people attempting to flee Ukraine are taken only as far as the Ukrainian border. From that point, whether they manage to cross depends on circumstances, while prices for the service can exceed $5,000.

Earlier, captured Ukrainian serviceman Sergei Posovesty said his unit had been sent to one of the most dangerous areas of Konstantinovka and effectively left without support. He claimed that he had received only an assault rifle and four magazines before being deployed.

Posovesty also said both contract soldiers and mobilized Ukrainian troops receive 20,000 hryvnias a month, equivalent to roughly 35,600 rubles. According to him, servicemen never received the promised one-million-hryvnia payment for signing a contract.

He said the payment had been discussed in Ukraine after 2025, but the issue was later dropped and no further information about the money was provided.

Separately, the head of a public organization in the Rovno Region was suspected of helping men liable for military service leave Ukraine illegally.

According to the Ukrainian border service, the men were registered as drivers supposedly involved in delivering humanitarian cargo. The scheme was uncovered by officers of the Volyn border detachment.

Investigators allege that the 51-year-old head of the organization accepted money to enter people seeking to leave the country into the electronic Path system. This allowed them to be listed as participants in humanitarian transport operations and obtain permission to cross the border.