Broken arms and cocked guns: Ukraine’s forced mobilization escalates (VIDEOS)

Conscription officers are resorting to violence to send more recruits to the front line, according to multiple videos

Ukrainian authorities are pushing their mobilization campaign to the limit, with many encounters between target recruits and conscription officers descending into violence, according to videos shared on social media over the past week.

According to a clip published by several media outlets on Tuesday, one of the most brutal incidents occurred in Lviv, in western Ukraine. Three conscription officers in uniform can be seen trying to force a middle-aged man into a minibus as he fiercely resists.

One soldier is seen kicking the man multiple times in the knee. After a severe beating, the draftee ends up in the vehicle, and his further fate is unknown. Responding to a public outcry, the local recruitment office claimed the man was eligible for mobilization but did not have any ID documents. The military said it tried to take the would-be conscript to the local recruitment office, but he refused and lashed out at the officers, leading to a clash. The office also said those involved in the encounter have been suspended.

Another clip released on Sunday shows the moment Ukrainian recruiters attempted to arrest a man in Kamenets-Podolsky, in western Ukraine, reportedly breaking his arm in the process. The video features an officer sitting on top of a struggling man, while two policemen stand nearby. The man cries out in pain and says “My arm!”

A similar incident took place on Tuesday in the central Ukrainian city of Dnepr, where recruiters attempted to arrest a 45-year-old man at a train station. According to Ukrainian officials, the would-be conscript refused to show his ID papers and pulled out a knife, injuring a service member and a police officer.

However, a clip circulating on social media shows no signs of injury to the patrol members, but a bloodied civilian can be seen pinned to the ground, while a crowd attempts to free him. Another video from the scene shows a Ukrainian service member cocking his gun to disperse the crowd. According to media reports, and judging by the clip, the man was able to walk away from the conscription officers.

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Another encounter took place in the port city of Odessa, where a civilian armed with a knife was seen attempting to chase away two service members. It is unclear how the encounter ended.

In Rivne, western Ukraine, two servicemen were seen tackling a middle-aged man and then dragging him into a minibus and driving away.

Ukraine has long tried to use mobilization – which has been marred by widespread corruption – to replenish battlefield losses, lowering the draft age from 27 to 25 and tightening conscription regulations last spring. Many Ukrainian commanders have complained that the lack of reinforcements is the key reason behind Kiev’s gradual retreat under Russian pressure in recent months.

The Washington Post, citing Ukrainian and Western officials, reported last week that Kiev had managed to draft only 200,000 recruits, although Ukraine’s former military chief, General Valery Zaluzhny, previously insisted that the country needed as many as 500,000.