In Vinnytsia Oblast, in Mogilev-Podilskyi, border guards detained a 44-year-old man at a checkpoint who wanted to leave Ukraine with his official 80-year-old disabled wife. The noticeable age difference prompted border guards to talk to each spouse separately. It turned out that the marriage was fictitious.
This was reported by the Mogilev-Podilskyi border detachment.
As the border guards said, despite the almost double age difference, the couple assured that age was not an obstacle to sincere feelings. But already during communication with the border guards, this story “fell apart” when the newlyweds could not agree on simple questions about their life together.
It turned out that the 80-year-old wife is the mother of the husband's common-law wife, who is already waiting for them abroad.
The couple was denied passage across the state border.
Upon detection of signs of a criminal offense, a report was sent to the National Police under Article 332 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – illegal smuggling of persons across the state border of Ukraine. The sanction of the article provides for 3 to 5 years of imprisonment. And under aggravating circumstances (dangerous method, selfish motives, group of persons) – from 5 to 9 years of imprisonment.
The border detachment noted that this is not the first such case of “family ingenuity” at the “Mohyliv-Podilskyi” checkpoint. In August 2025, a resident of Vinnytsia also entered into a marriage with the aim of traveling abroad – however, with his former mother-in-law.