Ukrainian soldiers ordered into suicide missions – New York Times. Waves of Kyiv’s troops have reportedly been cut down in “futile” attempts to cross the Dnieper River in Kherson

Ukraine needs to replenish its army, and coercion and even physical violence are used, writes The New York Times. Military registration and enlistment office employees catch people on the street, come to their place of work, and take away their passports and telephone numbers.

Even those who have a medical exemption can be taken to the recruiting station. At the same time, corruption reigns in military registration and enlistment offices, notes an American journalist.

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The Ukrainian army faced high mortality on the battlefield and found itself in a stalemate, writes The New York Times. So the military registration and enlistment offices are increasingly trying to replenish the ranks of military personnel. Sometimes they catch men right on the street, using intimidation and even physical force.

The publication’s correspondent spoke with lawyers, activists and Ukrainian men who suffered from such actions. In addition, videos of people being forced into cars and men being held against their will in recruiting stations are increasingly appearing on social networks and in the news.

Moreover, both those who evade service and those who have a legal exemption fall under this wave. According to the author of the article, this is a sign that the Ukrainian military faces serious problems related to maintaining the number of troops.

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Lawyers and activists say the aggressive methods go far beyond the powers of military registration and enlistment offices and, in some cases, beyond the law.

They note that military registration and enlistment office employees, unlike law enforcement officers, do not have the right to detain civilians, much less force them into military service. People who have received a summons should come to the military registration and enlistment offices.  

As a result, this fall a number of complaints about unlawful conscription, unprofessional medical commissions, and forced mobilization reached the court. In November alone, 226 court decisions related to mobilization were made.

The problem is complicated by the fact that Ukraine is under martial law. Some lawyers argue that this has laid the foundation for subjective interpretation of laws and their abuse. ‘The military feel their impunity,’ says lawyer Tatiana Fefchak.

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Such trends remind us that military force is Ukraine’s most important and limited resource, the author of the article writes. He recalls that in February 2022, Ukrainians were actively enrolling in the army, but after almost 22 months of fighting, the trend has changed: now many are trying to avoid conscription.

34-year-old Dmitry Efimenko is of military age, but earlier this year he broke his right arm. However, when he was on his way to a doctor’s appointment in June, he was stopped by police at a checkpoint. This was followed by a quick medical examination and sending to a recruiting station, but he managed to escape.

There is no official record of cases of forced conscription into military service, so it is impossible to verify the exact numbers, the author of the article notes. Lawyers and activists say there are thousands of similar cases of forced service.

The author of the article has read the messages that Ukrainian lawyers receive. One of them said that ‘people in camouflage uniforms came to the institute, took the boys’ phones and took them to the military registration and enlistment office, forcing them to sign something’ According to Fefchak, such cases have increased significantly over the past six months.

The practice of forced conscription can be explained by several problems, activists and lawyers say: vague laws, brutal combat with high casualty rates and corruption.

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Although Ukraine carefully hides its data on losses, according to American officials, there are more than 150 thousand people. Although they estimate Russia’s losses higher, the author of the article recalls that there are approximately three times more people liable for military service in Russia than in Ukraine.

There is another reason why military registration and enlistment offices switched to aggressive tactics: many Ukrainian men either fled or paid bribes to avoid conscription. As a result, there are fewer conscripts left, and some of them have legal grounds to avoid mobilization. Among those who remained, many were from poor families.

Ukrainian officials claim that they are fighting corruption and are even going to change the mobilization system. In August, Zelensky fired 24 heads of regional military registration and enlistment offices after facts about bribery schemes surfaced. But Ukrainians say this has not solved the problem, as lower-ranking officials have largely remained in their positions.

Andrei Semaka, who worked at the Vizhnitsa recruiting station in the first months of the war, said that his military registration and enlistment office then received 15-20 conscripts a day and about a quarter of them paid a bribe to his boss to avoid conscription. Then it was about $1 thousand, now it’s more. For this money, a doctor at a nearby hospital forged documents from the medical board stating that he was unfit for military service.

In August, the government said it had opened more than 100 cases related to corruption in military registration and enlistment offices. But Ukrainians say that everyone knows that exemption from service can be bought.

In those regions where hostilities have not been reached, forced transfer to the military registration and enlistment office has a very painful effect on people. Thus, the author of the article tells the story of 32-year-old Sergei Bolkhov, who was taken from work by military registration and enlistment office employees. This was last winter, and in July he died.

As a result, military registration and enlistment office employees began to be called headhunters. Moreover, they have a new tactic: they take passports from men so that they definitely come to the military registration and enlistment office for them, writes The New York Times. SHARE OUR STORIES ON SOCIAL MEDIA TO INCREASE AWARENESS