Authorities in Ukraine are currently investigating the claims that a 24-year-old man married his 81-year-old disabled cousin so he could avoid the mandatory military service.
24-year-old Alexander Kondratyuk married his 81-year-old disabled cousin, after developing a strong affection for his cousin who is 57-years-old older than him.
The 24-year-old denied the claims that he married his disabled cousin so he could avoid military services.
Conscription in Ukraine is compulsory, but there are some exceptions that allow people to avoid it.
You can be exempted from joining the army if you are looking after a disabled wife and prove her condition and marriage with official documents.
It is said that the marriage of happened in the Village of Baykovka, which is near the city of Vinnitsa in West-Central Ukraine.
The Baykovka village is located on the banks of one of the longest rivers in Ukraine.
When reporters and authorities asked 81-year-old Zinaida Illarionovna, the wife of the 24-year-old, about the marriage, the elderly one said her husband was taking good care of her.
But the neighbors said the man was never seen in the area before.
A resident in the village said that Illarionovna was visited by her grandchildren, sisters, and nephews more.
The man showed the proof of marriage and the disability certificate of the elderly woman to the authorities and returned home without signing up for the mandatory military service.
The spokesperson of the army said they can’t do anything about it as the man had documents with him that proved he was married to a disabled woman.
But legal experts claim the army can call the neighbors as witnesses.
Roman Korchenyuk, a lawyer, said if the army can prove that the marriage was fixed, the 24-year-old could be called up to serve the military as everyone else does.