KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Ukrainian military recruitment officers raided restaurants, bars and concert halls in Kiev, checked military registration documents and detained men who did not comply, local media reported Saturday.
Police reportedly descended on Kyiv's Sports Palace venue on Friday night after a concert by Ukrainian rock band Okean Elzy. Video footage broadcast by local media showed police officers stationed outside the doors of the concert hall blocking the men from leaving. In the video, police appear to be forcibly restraining several men.
Tests were also conducted at upscale shopping center Good Wine and popular restaurant Avalon.
Such a raid in the capital is unusual and reflects Ukraine's dire need for new recruits. All Ukrainian men between the ages of 25 and 60 are eligible for military conscription, and men between the ages of 18 and 60 are not allowed to leave the country.
Local reports said raids also took place at clubs and restaurants in other Ukrainian cities in eastern and central Ukraine, including Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk.
Ukraine has stepped up its mobilization efforts this year. This spring, a new law went into effect that requires those eligible for military service to enter their information into an online system or face penalties.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian military announced on Saturday that it had attacked a Russian-controlled oil terminal in the partially occupied Luhansk region that provides fuel for Russia's war effort.
“Oil and petroleum products were stored at this base and were especially supplied to the needs of the Russian military,” the Ukrainian General Staff wrote on Telegram.
Russian state media reported that a terminal near the city of Lovenky had been attacked by a Ukrainian drone, and said there were no casualties and the fire had been extinguished, but did not comment on the extent of the damage.
The Ukrainian military said on Monday it had attacked a major oil terminal on the southern coast of Russian-occupied Crimea.
Both countries face the problem of how to sustain a costly war of attrition that began with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and shows no signs of resolving.
Ukraine's objective is to cripple Russia's ability to support front-line forces, particularly in the eastern Donetsk region, where the exhausted Ukrainian military is stretched in Russia's main battlefield.
Kiev is still awaiting word on repeated requests from its Western partners to use the long-range weapons it provides to attack targets inside Russian territory.
Meanwhile, Russia's Ministry of Defense announced that 47 Ukrainian drones were intercepted and destroyed by air defense systems overnight through Saturday. Of these, 17 were over the Krasnodar region, 16 over the Azov Sea, 12 over the Kursk region, and 2 over the Belgorod region. Both share borders with Ukraine.
Belgorod region governor Vyacheslav Gladkov announced on Saturday that one person had been killed and 14 others injured in Ukrainian artillery and drone attacks in the past 24 hours.
The Ukrainian Air Force announced that its air defense forces shot down 24 of the 28 drones launched against Ukraine overnight.
Zaporizhzhya region governor Ivan Fedorov said on Saturday that two women were injured in a Russian attack on the capital of Ukraine's southern region, also known as Zaporizhzhya.
