Ukrainian recruiters are reportedly roaming the country's streets in a desperate effort to shore up military ranks as the war with Russia continues to decimate the indigenous population.
a report from times of london He claimed that tactics to increase the number of soldiers are becoming “increasingly deceptive, coercive and violent” as Kiev seeks to increase its mobilization of around 200,000 troops to advance the fight against Russia. .
A conscript official in the city of Odesa anonymously told a British newspaper that some of his colleagues resort to illegal methods, such as physically grabbing men on the street and sending them into battle despite being exempt from conscription. He said it happens often.
“These incidents tarnish the image of the entire organization, but this is the way the organization operates, because we have been given orders to show results and act efficiently,” the conscription officer said.
In one instance, a draft official fought with a paramedic after the medical worker was prevented from leaving a draft center after attempting to renew his exemption papers.
In another example cited by the paper, an Odesa man named Sasha was told by police that he needed to go to the draft office to renew his identification card. He was exempt from combat because he had chronic kidney disease, but neighbors say he was “deceived” and did not return from his office and was sent to a military training base in Kiev.
of times It said there were “nearly daily reports and videos” of men being rounded up and loaded onto unmarked buses by “conscription squads” roaming the streets of Odesa. The newspaper pointed out that there is even a Telegram group with nearly 150,000 men to issue alerts about the location of “recruitment” buses.
Still, a recruiting officer in Odesa said his department is not even close to its recruiting goals, saying it is “not mobilizing even 20 percent of what is needed.”
He blamed a combination of corruption, disillusionment and mismanagement for the failure to recruit more people, and argued that systemic problems made it “impossible to achieve our goals”.
Historically one of Ukraine's wealthiest cities, Odesa was a hotbed of corruption early in the conflict, with wealthy families paying local officials to keep their relatives out of the war.
President Zelensky vowed last year to crack down on corruption, and the government arrested and indicted Evhen Borisov, a former conscription chief in Odessa, on charges of accepting more than $5 million in bribes, but an anonymous conscription officer said the problem persists. He said he is doing so. day. He said his fellow officials are still accepting large bribes to forge exemption documents.
The problems facing the country's recruitment officials are compounded by a shortage of soldiers fit to take up arms, with recruiting officers reporting that more than half of those coming forward to join the fight are suffering from hepatitis, HIV or tuberculosis. It points out that these men often suffer from illnesses such as, and as a result, they are not eligible for military service.
The Odesa official suggested increased NATO oversight of Ukraine's conscription policy and increases in soldiers' pay, but warned: “If nothing changes… we will not be able to get out of this stalemate.”
