Video: Young Ukrainians Attack Army Recruiters As They Desperately Avoid Conscription Amid Russian Gains

A video from Ukraine’s Odessa has gone viral on social media where Ukrainian youth is seen allegedly attacking military recruiters who were there to hire young Ukrainians into the army. Ukraine has intensified conscription efforts as brutal fighting has erupted in the Kharkiv region.

Russia has made gains in eastern Ukraine in recent weeks, launching a renewed ground offensive in the northeast of the country. The death toll from Russian strikes on a hardware store in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv rose to 16 Sunday, the regional governor said, as rescuers searched the charred debris for bodies.

Russia said on Monday its forces had captured two more villages in eastern Ukraine — one in the Donetsk region, and another in the northeastern Kharkiv region.

A separate report by NBC News said that Ukraine urgently needs new soldiers but young men are desperately trying to avoid being drafted into the war.

“When you see people in uniform, you panic. You start thinking someone will mobilise you now against your will,” a lawyer based in Kyiv told NBC News.

“I love my country. I donate to the Ukrainian army. But unfortunately, I am not very prepared to fight on the front lines because I don’t have the experience and I am probably not morally prepared to kill somebody, even if it’s someone Russian,” the lawyer, who recently turned 25, said. Ukraine has reduced its conscription age to 25 from 27.

“The mobilisation itself is not even that scary, it’s more the process of being mobilised. You worry that someone will throw you into the bus one day, take you somewhere, turn off your phone, and you will be cut off from the world,” he said while speaking to the broadcaster.

The broadcaster in its report said that it geolocated another video to Kharkiv where it recorded an altercation between civilian men and recruitment officers, a recurring scene visible on Ukrainian city streets and in public spaces.

The video accessed by the broadcaster said that there was a physical altercation between recruitment officers and civilians in the country’s second-largest city, Kharkiv. The territorial recruitment centre in Kharkiv said its officers were “aggressively provoked” but said it was unnecessary for officers to have entered into an argument and physical confrontation. One officer was injured.

News18 could not independently verify the videos added to this story from social media site X.

Since Russia invaded in February 2022, Ukraine has been conducting a rolling mobilisation to strengthen its ranks. Earlier this month, a new mobilisation law came into effect requiring all men of military age to report to draft offices within 60 days to verify their credentials. This law aims to give the Ukrainian government a clearer picture of who can be called up for service. Men will also need to carry their military registration documents at all times. Although women are not currently being mobilised, some have volunteered to join the fight.