Ukrainian military recruitment officers raided restaurants, bars and a concert hall in Kyiv, checking military registration documents and detaining men who were not in compliance, Ukrainian media and witnesses reported on Saturday.
Officers descended on Kyiv’s Palace of Sports venue after a concert on Friday night by Ukrainian rock band Okean Elzy. Video footage aired by local media outlets appears to show officers stationed outside the doors of the concert hall intercepting men as they exit. In the footage, officers appear to be forcibly detaining some men.
Checks were also conducted at Goodwine, an upscale shopping center, and Avalon, a popular restaurant.
Photo: AFP
It is unusual for such raids to take place in the capital and reflects Ukraine’s dire need for fresh recruits. All Ukrainian men aged 25 to 60 are eligible for conscription, and men aged 18 to 60 are not allowed to leave the country.
A 27-year-old man said he left the concert as the last song was playing after he was told about the recruitment officers.
He said he saw soldiers and police talking to people but “didn’t see anything super aggressive.”
He said men felt in danger of being drafted whenever they ventured outside.
“That inner state of always being in danger, it’s back again,” he said, only giving his first name for fear of retribution.
He said his university draft waiver was taken away after Ukraine passed laws in April that both lowered draft-eligible age for men from 27 to 25 and did away with some draft exemptions.
Local reports said raids were also conducted in clubs and restaurants across other Ukrainian cities, including Kharkiv and Dnipro in eastern and central Ukraine.
Ukraine has intensified its mobilization drive this year. A new law came into effect this spring stipulating that those eligible for military service input their information into an online system or face penalties.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian military on Saturday said that it struck a Russian-controlled oil terminal in the partially occupied Luhansk region that provides fuel for Russia’s war effort.
“Oil and oil products were stored at this base, which were supplied, in particular, for the needs of the Russian army,” the Ukrainian General Staff wrote on Telegram.
Russian state media reported that the terminal close to the city of Rovenky had come under attack from a Ukrainian drone and said there were no casualties and that the fire had been extinguished, but did not comment on the extent of any damage.
Both sides are facing the issue of how to sustain their costly war of attrition — a conflict that started with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and that shows no signs of a resolution.
Ukraine’s aim is to impair Russia’s ability to support its frontline units, especially in the eastern Donetsk region where the main Russian battlefield effort is stretching weary Ukrainian forces.
Kyiv is still awaiting word from its Western partners on its repeated requests to use the long-range weapons they provide to hit targets on Russian soil.
Meanwhile, the Russian Ministry of Defense said 47 Ukrainian drones had been intercepted and destroyed by its air defense systems overnight into Saturday.
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