Ukrainian Draft Officers Accused of Brutalizing Recruits Amid Chaotic Mobilization Effort

By Staff, Agencies

A series of disturbing new videos has surfaced this week allegedly showing Ukrainian draft officers violently assaulting potential recruits across multiple cities, further fueling public outrage over the country’s troubled conscription campaign.

The footage — widely shared on social media — shows officers from the Territorial Centers of Recruitment and Social Support [TCR] engaging in aggressive and sometimes outright brutal tactics to enforce military mobilization orders. The incidents appear to mark an escalation in what observers have dubbed Ukraine’s “busification” drive: a term coined to describe the forced and often violent conscription of citizens into unmarked vans and buses.

One of the most graphic clips, reportedly filmed in the southern city of Nikolayev, depicts officers attempting to force a man into an unmarked vehicle. The victim is seen being punched, kicked and repeatedly slammed with the vehicle’s door as he resists.

In another video, from Odessa, a group of TCR officers are shown dragging a visibly injured man onto a recruitment bus. His clothing is torn and soiled, and he appears to be bleeding.

A separate incident from Dnepr [formerly Dnepropetrovsk] shows a violent clash between plainclothes recruitment officers and local civilians. According to witnesses, the officers attempted to seize a man in broad daylight but were confronted by a group of teenagers and bystanders. A mass brawl broke out, ultimately resulting in the man’s release from the officers’ custody.

These incidents are the latest in a growing string of confrontations that have dogged Ukraine’s mobilization efforts since the early days of the war with Russia. Public anger over the aggressive conscription methods has been building for months, with critics accusing the military of using intimidation, physical abuse, and even threats with military-grade weapons to meet quotas.

Though the Ukrainian government has repeatedly dismissed reports of such abuse as “Russian propaganda,” officials have occasionally acknowledged flaws in the system. In April, Deputy Defense Minister Lt. Gen. Ivan Gavrilyuk admitted that “busification is a shameful phenomenon,” vowing reforms while conceding the system was plagued by “certain shortcomings.”

Despite these promises, evidence of systemic violence continues to emerge, and calls are mounting for greater accountability. Analysts warn that the TCR’s tactics are not only undermining public trust in the military but may also erode domestic support for the war effort at large.

Kiev has yet to issue an official statement addressing the latest videos.