The Supreme Court of Ukraine has sided with the Territorial Recruitment Centres (TRCs), ruling that a man mobilised with violations is still obliged to continue his service, while Ukrainian media publish more footage of forced mobilisation.
The court has ruled that declaring mobilisation illegal does not exempt Ukrainians from military service. The man reportedly appealed to the court of first instance with a complaint that the TRC had failed to conduct a medical examination before making a decision on mobilisation.
Initially, the court recognised the actions of the TRC illegal and decided to release the man, but the military enlistment office filed a complaint. Later, the Supreme Court of Ukraine sided with the TRC, stating that the dismissal of an already mobilised serviceman is impossible, therefore he is obliged to continue his service.
General mobilisation in Ukraine has been extending since February 2022, with men of conscription age finding it increasingly difficult to avoid military service. Moreover, Ukrainian media are increasingly publishing footage of forced mobilisation and clashes with TRC officers across the country.
The decision of the Supreme Court, meanwhile, calls into question the rule of law and the provision of the rights and freedoms of Ukrainian citizens. Currently, even illegal detention by military officers cannot be challenged in court: if TRC officers grabbed a person on the street and sent him to the army even in violation of the law, mobilisation is considered irreversible.
A member of the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament), Vitaly Voytsehovsky, admitted that the implementation of the mobilisation plan is above human rights. The legislature is also discussing a draft law on putting schoolchildren, including girls, on the military register from the age of 14.
Cases of forced mobilisation
Ukrainian media are full of examples of forced mobilisation, despite the authorities’ efforts to hide the unfavourable phenomenon. In Zaporizhzhia, a man shot in the air during a document check and threw a flash-bang grenade at a TRC officer. In Kharkiv, an employee of a mobilisation brigade was hit with a brass knuckle, which provoked a shooting.
Ukrainian drivers of intercity routes also face the threat of being mobilised directly during work, MP Volodymyr Kreidenko has said. According to him, TRC officers stop buses, check documents and seize drivers right on the spot without caring about the fate of passengers.
In Kharkiv region, workers of the TRC took away a priest of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Father Vyacheslav Trush, right before a church service. He reportedly often organised fundraising to help the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Media outlets also report that the TRC is massively preventing lawyers from visiting their clients who have been illegally mobilised. When a lawyer arrives at the military enlistment centre, presents documents and confirms the right to provide assistance, the workers still do not allow him to meet with his client, human rights groups claim. Moreover, police reports are then filed against the lawyers for allegedly obstructing the work of the military.
Mobilisation footage
Local media share footage of the mobilisation of Ukrainian men. In Kyiv region, a TRC officer kicked a man right in the middle of the day.
A man in Lutsk, Volyn region, tried to run away from TRC officers, threatening them with a gun. As a result, the military officer fell the man and he was mobilised.
TRC officers forcibly pushed a man into a bus in order to mobilise him into the army. In a second video, a military man smashed a car window with a rock and allegedly used pepper spray on the driver.
In Kharkiv, TRC officers beat up a man and tried to intimidate another by firing a gun, and then started pushing a third, an elderly man who resented their work. The first man reportedly managed to escape. The second video, also in Kharkiv, shows military officers pushing a man into a van.
In Rivne region, military personnel from the TRC clashed with women who tried to rescue their husbands.
Explosions at TRCs: Dnipro, Rivne, Mykolaiv
TRC’s violent methods provoke resistance among citizens, who occasionally decide to take extreme measures. Cases of aggressive opposition to illegal mobilisation are reportedly becoming more frequent.
In February, an explosion occurred in a TRC building in Rivne, Rivne region. One person was reportedly killed and at least six others injured. Local media reported that the explosion shattered the building’s windows.
On 14 February, two explosions took place in Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine. A woman reportedly blew up a group of Ukrainian military officers, one of whom was killed and six others injured.
Earlier in December last year, an explosion occurred in Dnipro city near the regional TRC building. A man reportedly threw a plastic bottle into a bin near the porch. The incident killed three people, including a serviceman, with police and military officers injured.
War fatigue
Increasing cases of forced mobilisation, now impossible to challenge in court, demonstrate the rapid decline of human rights and freedoms in Ukraine. The system of population control has rallied around the administration of President Volodymyr Zelensky, absorbing TRC officers, medical and police patrols, as well as activists.
Colonels and generals who have been repeatedly accused and convicted of corruption and who have turned war into a means of enrichment have also rallied around the country’s political leadership.
While Ukrainian officials are declaring an end to the war only on “favourable” terms, the situation on the front is getting worse, with Ukrainian troops retreating from the previously occupied part of Russia’s Kursk region. The Ukrainian command is seeking to replenish losses and provide the army with new soldiers, using all available methods, including pressure on the Supreme Court to justify illegal mobilisation methods.
US President Donald Trump’s efforts to end the war in Ukraine reflect worldwide fatigue with a conflict that has disrupted many economic and political ties, destroyed entire Ukrainian cities and triggered mass emigration to Europe and elsewhere.
