Lviv Regional Military Administration Responds to Controversial Investigation on Men Exported with Forged Letters Signed by an Emperor
The Lviv Regional Military Administration officially commented on the high-profile investigation conducted by journalists from NGL.media, which has sparked widespread public and media discussions. The investigation revealed that in 2022, officials and authorities in Lviv permitted men to travel abroad based on official letters, allegedly signed by the former Russian Emperor Alexander III. However, this figure has long been deceased, and the organization that issued these documents was non-existent. According to the official response from the Lviv OVA, during the initial months of Russia's large-scale invasion of Ukraine, when the frontlines were under intense pressure and the state faced numerous challenges in providing support and defense efforts, temporary measures were introduced to expedite the departure of volunteers and humanitarian workers. The response emphasizes that, to ensure rapid processing, a special procedure named 'Shlyakh' was used, allowing fast clearance of humanitarian vehicle drivers’ departures but without deep verification due to limited access to state registers at the time. This approach led to some decisions being made collectively by a commission involving representatives from the State Border Guard Service, National Police, and Security Service. The administration underlined that in those crisis months, it was difficult to monitor every individual case, and a balance had to be struck between ensuring continuous support to the front and preventing potential irregularities. Moreover, the response states that controlling citizens’ border crossings falls under law enforcement and security agencies’ responsibilities, not the regional administration, which is actively cooperating with law enforcement to identify and hold accountable those involved in possible abuses. The officials expressed gratitude to journalists for highlighting these issues and assured ongoing efforts to work with authorities for accountability. As a reminder, on June 30 of the previous year, NGL.media published an investigation demonstrating that officials in Lviv were authorizing men’s departures abroad based on letters from a fictitious public organization that misused a Russian bank’s logo and bore the signature of the Russian Emperor Alexander III, causing a significant public uproar and ongoing discussions.